More Short Story Drabbles
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Since I have a habit of making short stories, I figured I could do another only this time for Naruto. Read and tell me what you really think of them!
1. Arashihime Chapter One

It all started when Alyssa had children. MIYU, the android created to watch over Alyssa until the war was either over or the girl died, was given a new directive by her master.

Protect her children until the line died out or Miyu was defeated in battle. But, she wasn't too allow them to cause too much trouble. Miyu took that new directive to heart and became the silent guardian of her young miss.

Over a thousand years later, and her directive was still the same. Protect Alyssa's children. What Alyssa had been unaware of was that her blood was special. In it was a special gene that would make blond hair almost genetic. In Miyu's eyes, those children shined like gold.

Her travels lead her to the Hidden Village of Konohagakure. She was about to go to the bookstore when she saw a young child being beaten within an inch of their life. Miyu would have ignored it, but the child had golden hair...just like Alyssa.

The fool was dead before he realized what happened, and Miyu took the child into a forest. By the time anyone realized what had happened, no one had a good description of her.

There was also the fact that since Miyu had no chakra or any actual scent meant that the ANBU couldn't track her.

(A useful fact she learned when the shinobi profession first came on the rise. She had even meet the legendary Rikudo Sannin in his prime and knew him personally. He found it fascinating that she knew what the red star was that most people had forgotten about.)

Miyu did her best to treat the kid's injuries, but she quickly noted it wasn't needed as they started to close with a hissing sound. Her scanners told her that the child (female) had a bijuu sealed inside of her, and that the demon in question was in fact the Kyuubi. She gently placed a cloth on the girl's head to cool her down.

Even with advanced healing, using Kyuubi chakra had a habit of overheating the user.

"Who...who are you?" asked the girl.

"My name is Miyu. I was asked long ago to protect you by your many times great-grandmother."

"You...you know my family?"

"I do. And Alyssa would never allow her grandchild to come to harm. Now, stay here while I go retrieve some food," said Miyu.

"Okay!" said the girl. She hid under some roots and was perfectly invisible...to everyone except Miyu. That golden light would lead her to the child no matter how far she was.

* * *

Miyu returned with more information than before.

The girl's name was Naruko Uzumaki, named after her mother's clan. Considering how famous the Namikaze name was and the probability of an assassin because of it, the fact she was named Uzumaki was acceptable.

The next thing she learned was that her new charge was deliberately being neglected, held back, even beaten by the village. Very few dared to openly be kind to her.

Of those few were the Hokage, the owner of a small stand and his young daughter, and a single teacher out of thirty at the Academy.

Those she really worried about were the council, the select group known as ROOT, and those known only as Akatsuki.

She had a few run-ins with them, but they never ended well...not for that old one and his ever changing partners at any rate. (Kakuzu)

She found the girl still where she left her, and she showed enough common sense not to immediately approach.

"It's alright little one. There's no one around for exactly five kilometers," said Miyu.

She had long since calibrated her sensors for chakra, rather than electricity. So much more reliable than tracking through whether or not someone had a cell phone or something on them.

The girl cautiously came out, scanning the area like a fox would. Finally she bounded up to Miyu with a smile on her face. Once she had eaten, Miyu scanned the area around the girl's home for anything suspicious.

When she found nothing, she let the girl in. Thanks in part to the fact she could change her hair and face on a dime and had no scent, no one would know who she was in the morning when she left.

"Now remember what I told you," said Miyu.

Naruko nodded eagerly. Miyu was so much nicer than everyone else.

She went to the Academy pretending everything was fine and kept Miyu a secret.

Part of Miyu's request was that Naruko not speak of her, and if she had to, then to make up a fake name and face.

Miyu had said she would take Naruko with her the first chance she had, away from all the angry glares and beatings. That was all she needed to hear...well that and it would be a prank that kept on going for years if they played it right.

Once she was gone, Miyu systematically went to cleaning the apartment. She sealed all that would be taken and made a note to trash the rest. If they were going to make a clean break from this village, then they needed an air-tight alibi for why they weren't there.

And the easiest way to throw off pursuers was to fake the girl's death.

* * *

_Three months later..._

Miyu heard the screams of the so called 'great Uchiha clan' on her way to Naruko's apartment. She knew her time had come.

She gently shook Naruko awake.

"Naruko, it's time to go."

"Okay Miyu-nee," said Naruko sleepily. Miyu had drawn enough blood to fool the hounds and she planned to burn the apartment down.

By splashing blood here and there, and erasing all trace of their escape, it was unlikely they would even know that the girl was alive. Plus with the massacre, it would take days before anyone thought to check out the tale.

It wasn't the first time Miyu had to perform an extraction, though last time it had been in Water country. She was considered one of the strongest supporters of the Resistance in Kiri, because she helped those with bloodlines escape to those seeking to replace the current Mizukage.

And they would most likely be happy to help train Naruko for a few months while she set things up. It would be too dangerous to travel with a young girl until she knew the basics. At the very least, she didn't want word of a young blond with blue eyes seen anywhere near Fire country until she was old enough to defend herself.

* * *

Mei was in shock when the infamous MIYU appeared with a young dark haired girl beside her.

"I don't believe it. I thought you didn't get involved directly Miyu?" said Mei.

"You remember my current primary directive. Correct?"

"Ah...so she is?" said Mei.

They had once approached Miyu with offers to formally join their Resistance. However the 'girl' had said that she had promised her young Miss that she would protect her children until her deathbed.

Which meant this child was one of those children.

"Her name is Naruko, and I was hoping you and the others would teach her how to be a real kunoichi since I still have to get things set up."

"Raising her on the road then?" said Mei.

"Faked her death to insure no one tries to 'rescue' her."

Mei bent down to eye level with the recently dyed Naruko. Her hair was pitch black at the moment. Her blue eyes were now green, and she wasn't wearing any boy's clothes.

It had been ridiculously easy to leave the village without using a henge. So many people forgot the old ways of hiding, before the use of chakra.

Mei nodded. It would be the least they could do for Miyu, because if she hadn't helped, at least ten clans would have died out entirely.

* * *

_One year later..._

Miyu returned. She had come back off and on to check on Naruko's progress, but it had taken this long for the aftermath of the Uchiha Massacre and the 'death' of Naruto Uzumaki to settle down in Konoha.

Thanks in part because no one knew the girl was not only alive, but thriving and no one knew who Miyu was, it was finally safe to take Naruko on the road. There was also the fact that Naruko's hair had grown out from that rat's nest she had been forced to wear it as for as long as she could remember. Now it reached her neck.

Because everyone believed 'Naruto' to be the Kyuubi reincarnated, no one would be looking for a girl. Miyu had checked, and it seemed that Sarutobi was so used to Naruto that he had forgotten that the poor child was really a girl.

Little Naruko's outfit had changed as well. Since she was the 'ward' of Miyu the Golden Sword (her nickname...she even had a BINGO book listing!) she was given special treatment.

Naruko was at least Genin level now, so she could handle a few bandits. Her chakra control had shot up since introduce to water walking, and she recently learned her element.

She was a rare Wind-type.

Naruko ran up to Miyu and hugged her, showing off her new dress. She was beyond thrilled that she no longer needed to hide that she was a girl anymore.

Mei had been particularly pissed off about that. She insisted on getting the girl a new dress to wear when she heard about what the Hokage had convinced the girl to do.

"How has she progressed in her studies?" asked Miyu, placing a comforting hand on Naruko's head.

"Very well, considering she's not even ten yet. She has a natural knack for jutsu, though anything below E rank will be impossible. Her reserves are ridiculous," said Mei, eyes narrowing. She had an idea why too, as spy reports claimed the current container of the ninth bijuu had died very recently.

She wasn't going to try anything, because she also knew Miyu would kill her before she came close.

"So will you be returning?"

"We will stop by whenever we are in the Land of Water to deliver supplies."

Naruko beamed at Miyu. She had made quite a few friends here and she would be thrilled to see them again.

* * *

Jiraiya was on his third bottle when the blue-haired beauty with red eyes walked in with a little girl with red hair.

She looked so much like Kushina that it nearly broke his heart to see that girl.

"Miyu-nee, can we get some ramen?" asked the little girl.

"You can't keep eating ramen Naru-chan," said Miyu,

"But I did the exercise you showed me perfectly!" said the little girl.

"Alright, but only three bowls. After that you have to eat something like gyudon or onigiri with vegetables," said Miyu.

Jiraiya wouldn't have paid any mind to the girl, except there was something about her that bothered him. He kept observing her and little things started to remind him of Minato or Kushina.

Finally, the clincher. A small smudge on the little girl's check that revealed a line, almost like a whisker mark.

Naruko had whiskers marks, three of them. He didn't notice that the older girl was glaring at him.

* * *

Jiraiya stopped them just outside town.

"Who are you two?" he demanded.

"Miyu-nee, he's creepy," said the little girl.

"Yes, but he's also the best seal master in that village as well as a competent shinobi when he isn't being an annoying pervert."

"He knows seals?" the girl perked up.

"Yes. He taught your father many years ago," said Miyu.

"I'll ask again, who are you? Don't make me ask a third time," growled Jiraiya.

"My name is Multiple Intelligence Yggdrasil Unit, or Miyu. I have been tasked by my master many years ago to protect her descendants. I have rescued her from an abusive situation and I will take it poorly if you attempt to return her to that village," said Miyu coldly.

"And the girl?"

"I can only assume you know who she is, otherwise you would not have accosted us outside the town."

"She's alive... Thank kami-sama..." said Jiraiya in relief.

When he heard the news that 'Naruto' had been killed in an explosion the same night as that massacre, he had feared the worst for his goddaughter. He did worry, however, that his old teacher had forgotten that Naruto was in fact a girl.

"If you wish to discuss this, I suggest you meet us in the inn. But make no mistake, she isn't going back until she is at least Chunin or Jounin level," said Miyu.

"Fair enough."

"So what really happened?" asked Jiraiya. He had bought several bowls of ramen for the girl and she was lost in her meal.

"I located Naruko being beaten by a village and killed him. Once she was healed, I started preparations for her removal from the village when I realized that the villagers would not change anytime soon and my charge would be in mortal danger as long as she was in the village. This isn't my first removal."

"Why did it take you so long to find her?" asked Jiraiya.

"I traveled the world many times, and the only way I can know if someone is of the same bloodline is something only I can see. One of the most visible characteristics is golden hair."

"Minato."

"Those of Alyssa's blood tend to have impacts on history. Minato was just one of the more memorable ones," said Miyu flatly.

"How do I contact you?" asked Jiraiya.

"If you leave a note in the bounty stations for the Golden Sword, I will contact you. For now, Naruko will travel with me," said Miyu.

"Is it alright if I teach the kid a little sealing?"

"That is the reason we came near the town, even though your chakra signature was in it," responded Miyu.

Jiraiya grinned. Finally, things weren't looking so miserable. Perhaps he could send the girl Tsunade's way as well...kami knows she needed a reason to believe in life again.

Then a thought occurred to him.

"So which one was of Alyssa's bloodline? Minato or Kushina?"

"Minato. Kushina also had the blood of another like Alyssa, but her bloodline was different than Alyssa."

"Kushina had a bloodline too?"

"She was the descendant of Tokiha Mai, a woman who defeated Alyssa many years ago...but she also freed her."

As Miyu describes some of the powers the two had Jiraiya made a note of which books to give Naruko. By the time they parted, Naruko had a basic idea of how seals worked, and several books on how to make her own. Not that Miyu would allow her to try them unless Jiraiya was around to insure nothing went wrong.


	2. A wolf by any other name Chapter One

It was a dreary Halloween night, and Tsume was zoned out in the spare bedroom of the house. She was friends with Lily after the red head saved her life during a failed mission in England.

Ever since then Tsume occasionally came to crash on the couch in an effort to get away from the evil paperwork that came from being a clan head. James certainly didn't mind...he found it hilarious the way Tsume got Sirius to shut up by casually mentioning way to neuter a dog that involved sharp, pointy objects. She found it amusing that those tended to make Remus pale too.

Plus there was the freaked out look Kuromaru got whenever he talked.

She had come to see Lily mostly because her husband had had enough of the Alpha talk (he wasn't from the clan, so he didn't know what it was like to be the head of the Inuzuka) and had left her right after Kiba was born. Hana had been devastated. Tsume had been hurt. While she could leave Hana with the clan for a while, she couldn't do the same for Kiba because he cried like the damned whenever she wasn't around.

Wasn't even two and already the brat gave her migraines.

Lily had left Kiba in the same crib as her son Harry and the brat finally shut up while Tsume crashed in the spare room with so many silencing seals she couldn't hear the children outside.

This also meant she couldn't hear the sounds of battle outside the room. Kuromaru smelled magic being thrown, but didn't know what kind without the words. It wasn't until the entire house rocked from an explosion three doors away from her that she woke up.

"Enemy?" she asked, grabbing her kunai.

"I think so. Someone was slinging magic around earlier," said Kuromaru.

Tsume left the room, heard the sound of creaking boards and crashes, and went to check on the kids. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw Lily dead in front of the crib, the body of the same nut job who tried to kill her all those years ago crumbling into dust, and both children crying. Kuromaru checked on James and found him dead as well.

Little Harry had a bleeding cut, which when cleaned revealed itself to the shape of a lightning bolt. Kiba was starting to calm down now that his mother was nearby.

Fifteen minutes later Sirius came in to check on them and found a pissed off Tsume waiting. She had spent that time changing the boy's diapers since both had loosened their bowels after the explosion.

"What happened Tsume!?"

"How the hell should I know? I was asleep under those silencing seals when the house shook. I came out to find them dead and this corpse turning to dust with a wand in his hand."

"We better leave. Kami knows Dumbledore will send someone to take Harry away," said Sirius.

"What?"

"Dumbledore was the one to suggest Peter. Little rat bastard betrayed us," said Sirius.

"You carry Kiba, I'll take Harry."

Outside Tsume heard Sirius arguing with Hagrid, who apparently mistook Kiba for Harry. Finally the half giant took her son and vanished with what she knew to be a port key.

She cursed.

"Black, where the hell did he take my son?" she demanded.

"I have no idea! He said something about Dumbledore's orders to leave Harry with his aunt, but that can't be right! Petunia hates Lily with a passion!"

"Where does she live?"

"Surrey. That's all I really know. Lily never told me more than that."

"Kuromaru, you keep an eye on Harry while I retrieve Kiba. No way in hell am I letting him get away with kidnapping my son! Sirius, I want you to meet me in Gringotts so we can get Harry a passport. He can live with me in case Dumbledore tries to pin you as the traitor. You can come to if we manage to get out of this."

Sirius nodded and apparated straight to the bank with the child and dog. Kuromaru wouldn't let anyone come within ten feet of Harry.

* * *

Tsume immediately grabbed Lily and James' wands, and then a few galleons. She also grabbed a few of their photo albums and books and sealed them away. Most of the things in the house were expendable, but the rest were items Lily had taken with her when they moved. Once she was done she used Lily's wand and summoned the Knight Bus like her friend had shown her years ago when apparating and port keys were too dangerous.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus..." the conductor started bored, but Tsume didn't have time for that.

"Look, just get me to Surrey."

"Right then. That'll be seven sickles."

Tsume handed over the gold coin and got several silver coins back. It was only her chakra control that kept her standing when the bus shot off.

It took her four hours to find Kiba's scent and another one to locate the house. The senile old fool had left her son on a doorstep in the middle of fall with only a thin blanket! She was going to have his balls for this!

Once she had Kiba and ripped the letter to shreds, she summoned the bus again and was dropped off at the Leaky Cauldron.

It only took a moment to get in and head to Gringotts.

"What is your business?" asked the goblin.

"Where's Black? He should be here with a child and a wolf."

"Ah, so you are the one he was waiting for. Follow me."

Sirius was fuming. Harry had a piece of the Dark Lord's soul in his scar and it had taken three hours to get rid of it. Thankfully the damage was recent enough that there weren't any ill side effects. When Tsume came in with Kiba, she had the goblins check him as well.

And when they learned that several spells were placed on him within the last six hours, which was roughly when Hagrid snatched him on Dumbledore's orders, she was livid. Those spells were removed as well.

Because of her intervention, Sirius had time to lock down the Potter and Black accounts. The goblins were more than happy to help, especially when they learned he was screwing over Dumbledore. Tsume was given the spare key to Harry's trust, since she was registered as one of the people Harry was to go to in the event of their deaths. Because of the shinobi habit to make multiple copies of the will, Tsume had it on her even when Dumbledore locked the one that was in the Ministry mere hours after the Potters were dead.

Once the goblins had her copy (which the immediately declared valid and legal) the will was set into motion. Since Sirius planned to move in with her clan, Harry was living with his godfather.

Tsume did change the name so that the old codger couldn't track them through that method.

When they left the bank, Harry Potter died a silent death as Midori Inuzuka was born.

* * *

"Inuzuka-san, why have you brought back a foreign child and a wizard with you from your extended leave?" asked Sarutobi.

"While I was visiting some old friends of mine, they were attacked by the madman who nearly killed me on a failed mission in England. Lily Potter ne Evans saved me and we became friends. Since I wasn't about to let a life debt go unpaid I brought her son back with me. Both Lily and her husband are dead."

"And the wizard?"

"Midori is my godson. Since I come from a rather...unpleasant clan and happened to be James' best friend, the wizards will naturally assume I was the traitor that gave away their location. Tsume-chan offered me a place to stay so I wouldn't be caught by those idiots and still be close to my godson," said Sirius.

The only thing Sarutobi could think of was 'Why couldn't Jiraiya be like Sirius?'.

Once Sirius was cleared to live in Konoha, Sarutobi subtly maneuvered him into getting a job in the same orphanage where Naruto was at. The poor boy had no one to really look after him and he could just tell the wizard would adore the blond bundle of mischief.

Besides, it would really tweak Jiraiya's nose when he learned why.

* * *

Five years. That was how long it had been since Tsume had returned with her friend's son and the wizard who adopted Naruto in a heartbeat when he found out how abused he was.

Naruto Uzumaki-Black-Inuzuka was the best friend and conspirator of Kiba and Midori. Midori, the thinker, was the one to come up with the pranks. Kiba was the look out and Naruto was the escape artist. Between the three of them, pranks were common and laughs came freely.

Today was their first day at the Academy, and Tsume was ready to party now that the kids wouldn't be in her hair for several hours.

Plus there was the fact that Sirius kept being dragged to the Hokage's office to deal with complaints the civilians made about his son...or to pick up the latest Icha Icha since Sarutobi _always_ got them before the stores.

Jiraiya was very accommodating when he heard that Sirius didn't hate the fox and was supplying Naruto with a lifetime of prank ideas.

Because of the fact he was living in the Inuzuka compound, Naruto would eventually get a ninken hound partner. What kind, Tsume had no idea, but she firmly believed that Sirius adopting the boy could only be a good thing, since the mobs weren't so quick to harm him with Sirius showing up to hex them into next week.

And Sirius was very quick to hex people if they even looked at Naruto like they planned to hurt him.

* * *

Iruka was a new teacher at the Academy, and he was stuck teaching the new children. In his class were several clan heirs...and the by now infamous Inuzuka Trio. Midori, Naruto and Kiba. Iruka was a prankster back in the day, so he could take a step back and view the work critically. And what he saw told him Naruto and Midori had a future as trap masters.

Still, that didn't mean he was going to let them prank without someone giving them a run for their money.

As Iruka did the role call, he noticed Midori giving the window a look. One he knew all too well.

"Inuzuka Midori! If you even _think_ of trying to escape on your first day I will grab you and string you up by the boxers!" barked Iruka.

Midori said something that actually had Iruka face vault.

"You're assuming I'm actually wearing some," he shot back. Many of the girls gave him grossed out looks and backed away while Naruto and Kiba guffawed at his comeback.

"Oh yeah, it's Sirius-oyaji's turn to do the laundry today isn't it?" said Kiba.

"Is it _my_ fault the Hokage thought a book on beginning seals inspired me to be worse?" said Midori with a straight face.

Sarutobi had given Midori a book on seals as a birthday present, unaware that the boy had a real talent for them...and that he would be making homemade paint tags by the time he was six. In his defense, he had been entirely unaware that Midori's magic could set them off just as well as chakra could.

On the plus side, Midori had decided to concentrate most of his studies to something most people wouldn't think of.

Counter Seals.

After the fourth time he was unable to set a tag on because someone had broken his seals, he became fascinated with screwing up other's work in sealing. So the Hokage gave him a basic overview of the Hyuuga's Caged Bird seal in hopes it would keep the brat busy for the next few years.

And oddly enough, it worked. It kept Midori busy and away from the pranking supplies...and if he was successful it would help Hiashi remove the damn seal from the branch house. Hiashi had made it clear he hated the thing, and if given a choice he would abolish the practice altogether. However the counter to the seal had been lost years ago and Jiraiya wasn't nearly good enough to remove it.

Well that and it kept Midori from experimenting with explosive tags. The boy was as much a pyro as an Uchiha...

* * *

Sirius was having a drink with Tsume. It was an ongoing bet with the other Inuzuka clan members when one of them would finally admit they liked the other.

Sirius was as loyal as any Inuzuka, and he could literally turn into a dog without help from a ninken partner. Plus there was the fact that unlike Tsume's previous husband he had no issues with following the Alpha chain of command that the Inuzuka employed. Though Midori attributed that to the fact that since Sirius could turn into a large black dog he probably knew on instinct Tsume was an Alpha, and dogs naturally followed the leader of the pack anyway.

Tsume rather liked Sirius because he was good looking, adored kids, and had never once done anything to royally piss her off. Well that and his loyalty to his dead friend's memory always went down well with her. His bank account didn't matter to her, she was the head of the Inuzuka clan. Plus there was the fact that he got along with Hana very well, almost like a father.

So yes, there was a very large bet going around as to when the two would finally start dating. Midori, Naruto and Kiba were all in on it. And the funny thing was that the odds were against Sirius. The Inuzuka trio all had their money on Tsume jumping the dog animagi.

* * *

"INUZUKA! GET YOUR ASSES BACK HERE!"roared Iruka. Midori and his brothers had successfully escaped the classroom after a mere week of classes. They had the highest stamina in the class, though their grades could be better.

The only issue Iruka had was that Sirius had taught them all English, which was almost never heard in the Elemental Countries. It had become a secret code between the brothers, to his ire.

Unfortunately for them, Sirius had been helping Iruka learn the language solely so the poor chunin could counter their pranks. It wouldn't do for them to get cocky because of a secret code.

It only took fifteen minutes, but the fact that Iruka actually caught them at all instantly gave him their respect. None of the ANBU or various upper level ninja had even come close...except for Anko, but that was another story.

"Not even a single week... What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"Which class do you teach again?" asked Midori.

"History and Taijutsu, why?" said Iruka.

"Men, to the History books! Clearly this is a man we should actually listen to without sleeping through his class!" said Midori.

"Here here!" said Kiba and Naruto, with stars in their eyes.

Iruka paled.

_'What just happened?'_ he thought with a sweat.

* * *

"Again!" barked Tsume. Midori and Kiba were practicing clan techniques while Naruto was unfortunately stuck inside the living room while Sirius helped his son with his homework. Naruto had headaches whenever he read for long than an hour.

While Kiba grasped the basics fairly quickly, Midori had some trouble communicating with his practice hound, who happened to be one of Hana's triplets. Still, he was almost able to understand most of what the ninken hounds said without help from Tsume.

Tsume could only hope he finally learned that skill before his hound was given to him. He had had his eyes on a wolf pup that according to Sirius looked far too much like Remus to be normal...and the irony was that said hound was female.

The odd thing was that Remus had yet to find Sirius and Midori, even though it had been nearly eight years. He was almost tempted to find out what happened to his friend, but after Tsume went back to England to check on something the goblins sent a few years into Midori's new life as a Konoha citizen, he had learned that somehow Dumbledore made a fake double of him and caused people to believe he had betrayed the Potters. Chances were he would be arrested if he stepped foot in England for a while.

Midori dropped on all fours, and allowed Hana's hound to join her mind with his. After all the practice he had, it came almost naturally. Even Naruto had gotten this far, though his partner would have to deal with the fox.

Tsume had gotten special permission to tell Kiba, Midori, Naruto, Hana and Sirius about the fox inside Naruto, if only because he would have found out the hard way once he got a partner. Naruto's response was to prank the village extra hard for a week, and then went back to normal. It helped that Hana, Kiba and Midori still treated him like their brother and Sirius hadn't lost anyone to the attack. In fact he had helped Naruto prank the village with a few fox-themed pranks.

The only experience Sirius had with foxes were the old tales about the fox wives and the fact that kitsune were considered shape shifters.

That might explain why he started Naruto on basic animagi training when they weren't sure if the boys would have magic like Midori clearly did.

"Ninja Art! Man-Beast Clone!" said Midori.

His features became more feral and he was able to move more like an Inuzuka than before. This time the chakra stabilized enough that he didn't rely on Hana's partner.

"Good! You finally got it down! Keep it up and you'll be ready for your partner!" said Tsume pleased.

"He finally got it?" said Sirius.

"About time!" said Kiba. Beside him was another hound that he was using for practice. Because they weren't ready for their own hounds, they had to practice their techniques with hounds that already had partners and had been deemed stable enough for beginners. Hana's triplets were considered the most sane hounds in the current generation.

Midori dropped the techniques when his chakra ran out. He could only keep it up for about ten minutes before he ran out, but it was still better than Kiba's time.

Still... it would be a while before he got his partner. Sirius could only hope that he managed it before he went to Hogwarts, because he would need all the backup he could get there.


	3. A wolf by any other name Chapter Two

Midori was excited for obvious reasons. He was ten years old, and he was finally cleared to get a nin hound. Sure he had failed the last genin test, but that paled in comparison to getting a nin hound to fight with. Tsuki was already a mean little bitch, but she was fiercely loyal to Midori who helped clean out the kennels a lot.

Even Naruto had gotten a partner, though it was one they hadn't expected.

About midway through the Kyuubi Festival, which none of the boys attended in respect to the fact that today was the day Naruto was born...and lost his parents...and became the container of the Kyuubi...so instead they had a birthday party in Sirius' part of the clan compound which they claimed was a hundred times more fun than watching people glare at Naruto for something that wasn't his fault.

On Naruto's ninth birthday a tiny little fox appeared with a scrol that Tsume quickly identified as the Fox summoning contract. Apparently they wanted to get to him before the 'Toad Sage' did, plus his mother had been the holder of the previous one despite not using it all that often.

Since most Inuzuka hounds wouldn't be able to handle dealing with the Kyuubi while transformed, the fox clan that still remained in Konoha (in the Forest of Death's most dangerous section, which was probably why they hadn't been wiped out by misplaced anger towards the Kyuubi yet...) came to extend and invitation to Naruto to use one of their younger kits in place of a hound.

Luckily for Naruto, foxes used a similar language to the Inuzuka hounds, so he only had to translate their accent. After that day Naruto had a tiny fox kit on his head (once his presence was explained anyway) instead of the dog everyone was expecting.

Today was Midori's day...plus according to Sirius it was his birthday too...

So Midori meditated and waited for his partner to follow his scent like all the other Inuzuka did. How Kiba managed this before he did was a mystery.

He heard twin barks, and opened his eyes.

The first was the puppy of the wolf he had his eyes on named Tsuki (who was unfortunately claimed before he got his partner) so he instead got her first litter. It was a beautiful silver and black colored wolf that he would name Dawn. The other was a pure black wolf who almost resembled Kuromaru, Tsume's partner.

Tsume popped in when she heard the barks, and stared.

"How the hell did you get the best pick of Kuromaru's current litter? Or Tsuki's litter for that matter?" she asked in surprise.

Tsuki had proven to be a natural at tracking and attacks. And there was a high probability of Kuromaru's pups learning how to talk.

"I have no idea. Does this mean I won't have to borrow Hana-nee's partners during practice anymore?"

"It just means you'll have to work with your new partners now. Congrats brat, you're officially a full Inuzuka now."

Secretly Tsume was very relieved he had partner hounds. Because he was adopted like Naruto, the chances of him never getting one were high. Instead he surprises them all and gets two, both of Kuromaru's bloodline.

"Whoohoo!" said Midori, picking up both partners (who had huge paws on them, meaning they would be massive when they got older) and followed Tsume to register his new ninken.

* * *

"No way! How the hell did bookworm get two partners?!" demanded Ino.

Bookworm was Ino's not so private name for Midori. She called Kiba mutt breath and Naruto Ramen-for-brains.

The fun fact was that Midori had the highest grades in the class, beating the last Uchiha by two ranks. Needless to say said Uchiha was not happy with this fact.

"Because I am that awesome!" declared the adopted Inuzuka complete with idiot pose. Naruto was snorting into his water and Kiba was laughing with his partner Akamaru on his head. Midori's partners Dawn and Dusk barked in agreement.

Ninken Hounds didn't talk human (if they had the ability) until they were at least a year old. And the pups were barely four months old. Even Kuromaru didn't start talking until he was thirteen months old.

Since he had only recently been cleared by the clan to bring Dawn and Dusk to the Academy (he had spent two entire months training with them so that he could slip into the Man-Beast clone among other things...and so they wouldn't embarrass the clan in public) so he was eager to see everyone again.

Midori was good friends with Shino, Chouji, Hinata and Shikamaru. He couldn't stand Ino, Sakura and the Uchiha for good reason. Ino and Sakura had a tendency to screech and wear too much perfume for his nose and the Uchiha was a complete and utter asshole.

"C-c-congratulations for getting your partners Midori-kun," said Hinata.

"Took forever... But I finally got 'em!" said Midori grinning.

"Settle down!" barked Iruka using his infamous Giant Head technique. He noticed the new additions and gave Midori a look.

"Midori! I hope you are well aware of the rules concerning ninken, so don't make me go over them with you later. Naruto, Kiba, keep your partners from causing trouble. Now sit down!"

"Hai, Iruka-sensei!" said the trio in unison. Dusk and Dawn laid down on either side of Midori as they waited for class to be over. Now that he had his partners, he would have to go through extensive training before they were allowed to do any of the fun stuff.

* * *

"_Dawn, move to the left! Dusk, cover her!"_ said Midori. Now that he had his partners, understanding his ninken came almost naturally. Which was a good thing, considering it had been almost six months since he got them. Iruka had banned all ninja partners from the class because he nearly caught Kiba cheating using Akamaru.

"_Pups, fall in!"_ barked Tsume.

As one, the three immediately fell in line with Naruto and Natsu, Kiba and Akamaru.

"Well done Midori. While you are the last to join us, you clearly had a firm understanding of the pack. Kiba, you need to work on control...particularly your impulse control. Naruto, you have the option of either working on your magic or your chakra control. Pick one and stick with it," said Tsume.

"What about Midori?" asked Kiba.

"He'll be working with Hana on combination attacks and getting his form down properly. Dawn missed that last one entirely and Dusk was too slow to cover it," said Tsume.

The two pups looked away slightly embarrassed. Then again, that was why Midori spent most of his free time training with them instead of working on his hobby of counter-sealing. It was an odd trick, but absolutely devastating since in order to pull it off you had to be very, very good at seals to begin with.

And Midori was a natural at sealing, period. So much so that Jiraiya occasionally dropped off mid to high level seal books whenever he stopped by for Sirius to pass on to Midori.

Midori, however was sweating big time. Hana was ruthless since she was clan Heiress, and Tsume was even worse during training. Sure, the potential experience he gained helped him keep up with his brothers, who were born to be ninja, but the asskicking during was so not fun.

"To the bowels of hell we go, Dawn, Dusk," he said weeping anime tears. The puppies whimpered in agreement.

Soon howls of absolute pain were heard from the general direction Midori had gone. Sirius snickered and went back to helping Naruto with his meager amount of magic that the Kyuubi had oh-so-helpfully unlocked.

He wouldn't have done that much, but Midori had overheard a comment Naruto made about the Kyuubi being completely cramped and offered to tweak the seal so he could take over a shadow clone (which Tsume taught Naruto if only to get him to quit bothering her one week) and walk around to scare people.

Considering foxes lived to play pranks, the Kyuubi jumped on the deal.

Plus if he managed that, Jiraiya had agreed to hand him some extremely rare and hard to find sealing books.

According to Sirius, Naruto's natural magical reserves (which had to be freed by Kyuubi once he learned exactly what they wanted to unlock in Naruto to begin with) was roughly on par with a half-blood's average core.

According to Sirius during his discussion of Pure Blood Wizard history, there was a reason why pure bloods looked down on muggleborns, and it wasn't entirely because of the whole old blood VS new blood that Voldemort had based his power on.

_Flashback_

"Alright boys, why is it that children of ninja clans have an easier time becoming ninja while civilians struggle until they reach chunin?" asked Sirius. The boys were only 7, but this was one thing they should know by now.

Kiba held up his hand.

"Is it because they have prior training?" he said.

"Close, but not entirely accurate. Midori?"

"Is it because they are more aware of the dangers and risks before they enroll and have help?" he said.

"No, but good try. Naruto?"

Naruto cocked his head and really thought about the answer.

"Is it because they have larger chakra pools since chakra types are inherited?"

"Good! All three are correct, but what I wanted you to think of first was that chakra affinities and pools can be inherited. Children born of shinobi families have slightly larger pools than civilian families, so they had an advantage when it come to power. The same can be applied to magical families, so long as the blood isn't too corrupted by severe inbreeding."

Sirius took out his chalk and began writing examples.

"For example, the Malfoy clan. They are known as pure bloods going back four hundred years, when they came to England from France which is one of the countries from the outside. Once they established themselves in England, they began marrying primarily into other pure blood clans. However in recent years their choice in mates has dwindled to the point that marrying a fifth or sixth cousin is extremely high.

"In the middle of the spectrum are the half-bloods, which is where Midori falls. They are the pups of a witch or wizard and a muggle or first generation magical. While some are born in mostly civilian families and are rarely trained before school, there is the occasion of a half-blood heir to a pure blood family. If a half-blood were to marry a pure blood, then the resulting child would be considered pure by English standards.

"And on the final end we have first generation magicals, which is where Naruto falls. They have slightly smaller pools since their magic has just woken up, and they are almost never trained. However Naruto falls under the half-blood category power wise because his unusually large chakra pools bleed heavily into his magical core."

Sirius faced them with a grin.

"Now because we aren't under a single Ministry's jurisdiction, I can train Midori and Naruto magic without them bitching, which includes unregistered animagi training. Kiba, we'll do a test later when I get the right materials to see if you can join them, but don't hope for much," said Sirius.

As it turned out, Kiba did have enough to qualify as a hedgewitch, but not enough to do the really cool stuff to his disappointment. On the plus side, he wouldn't be fooled by anything designed to turn the eyes of the nonmagical people away and he would be able to see Hogwarts clear as day according to Sirius.

It was better than nothing.

_Flashback end..._

Naruto concentrated on his animal form, which was predictably a fox. Midori had yet to figure out what his form was, though that could be attributed to the fact that he had yet to make a set dream like Naruto had.

Midori honestly had no idea what type of shinobi he wanted to be, only that he wanted to make the clan proud of him. It didn't help that he was adopted and wasn't born of a shinobi clan like Naruto and his brother Kiba were. Still, he had a lot of help from the clan since his loyalty was unquestioned and he loved dogs.

Finally Naruto pushed his magic into each limb and watched as it slowly shifted into a paw. He could feel the tail pop into place as his magic rapidly answered his command.

Five minutes into Sirius' animagi training, Naruto had shifted from human to full on blond fox with red fur at the tips of his ears and tail.

He barked in joy, and promptly stumbled.

"Good job son! Now that you've got the transformation done, you have to work on movement. Natsu, you help him get his bearings so he doesn't trip on his own feet for an hour. Then we'll work on switching back," said Sirius proudly. Naruto was his son in all the ways that mattered.

Plus the sheer potential as a prankster sometimes made Sirius giddy. Midori was almost at that level, but he still had a long way to go to beat his father.

* * *

"Again!" barked Tsume. Midori narrowly avoided her attack, but in the process of doing so he left Dawn exposed. He cursed and tried to correct his landing, but it was too late.

"Stop. Midori, you need to be more aware of your partner's positions. You can't leave them exposed with so much when they are so young," said Hana.

"Sorry Hana-nee!" said Midori, checking on Dawn. She was a little shaken, but she got back up.

Dawn glared at Hana and the triplet who had her in a tight grip.

She growled in defiance...and then did something that surprised everyone.

_"Bully!"_ she barked.

"...Did Dawn just talk?" asked Tsume.

Dawn glared at Hana.

_"You're a bully!"_ she barked.

"So you got yourself one that can talk human..." muttered Tsume.

_"To be more precise, he got two. I just didn't want to say anything so I could freak people out,"_ said Dusk. Tsume nearly jumped out of her skin.

"You got TWO that talk!?" said Hana and Tsume in unison.

_"What? Why did you think I spent so much time around Dog Star?"_ asked Dusk.

"I am going to geld him..." growled Tsume.

"Do that and you won't have anyone to jump later..." said Hana with a snicker.

"Hana..." growled Tsume.

"Seriously Mom, it's not like you two aren't attracted to each other, and it would make you easier to be around," said Hana flatly.

As one, all the canines and Midori nodded in complete agreement. Tsume on that time of the month was scary. But add to the fact she hadn't gotten any since Kiba and Hana's father bailed out on her because he was tired of the whole Alpha Bitch act...

Yeah, no sane person wanted to deal with her.

"Mom, if you don't jump Sirius we will kidnap you and lock you two in a sealed room with enough aphrodisiac plants to make you two go at it like newlyweds," said Midori. Hana nodded in agreement.

"You wouldn't dare..." she growled.

She didn't notice the looks Kiba, Midori, Naruto and Hana were shooting her behind her back later...

* * *

Tsume woke up groggy as hell. It took her five seconds to notice the seal on her ass and that the room was locked. Sirius groaned in pain.

"What the hell is going on?"

"I am going to kill them..." she growled.

"What happened?" asked Sirius.

"The brats locked us in a sealed room...and I'm assuming those are the aphrodisiacs they threatened me with..." she growled.

"Oh for the love of... They expect us to jump each other, with so few plants?" he snorted.

Sirius had experimented with certain...plants...while he attended Hogwarts. The end result was that it would take something rather potent to actually effect him.

Apparently someone outside heard him rather well, because something was tossed into the room. Tsume's eyes widened.

"Where the hell did they get that? Only High ranking members of the clan should have access to that, and Hana hasn't reached that level yet!"

There was a note on the canister.

"_Don't assume that the kids were the only ones in on this. Love the clan."_

Then the thing started to spew a strange mist...and the two lost all sense of reason. A single eye looked to see who jumped who before closing the door and slapping a ton of silencing seals on it. The mist wouldn't wear off for another three days...


	4. Arashihime Chapter Two

Naruko had just turned nine when it happened. She was the same age as Alyssa was when she stormed Fuka with her fake Child and Miyu.

Miyu had been getting food, leaving the girl hidden as she had been trained so 'lovingly' by the citizens of Konoha, when she heard singing. It was a beautiful, if sad song, and the singer sounded like an angel. It took her a few moments to realize that it was the same lullaby Miyu played for her when nightmares of her treatment in Konoha woke her.

"_Who are those little girls in pain_

_Just trapped in castle of dark side of moon_

_Twelve of them shining bright in vain_

_Like flower that blossom just once in year_

_They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love_

_Just dreaming a place where they are free as dove_

_They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage_

_It' s only the fairy tale they believe_

_They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love_

_Just dreaming a place where they are free as dove_

_They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage"_

_(_It's Only the Fairy Tale, _the song sung by Alyssa in Mai-HiME.)_

Naruko was torn between going to see who was singing, or staying hidden like she was supposed to. In the end, her natural curiosity won out. She followed the voice into a cavern she didn't know was there.

When she reached the back of the cavern, she saw a strange seal on the rock.

Right as she was about to touch it, she heard Miyu's voice.

"STOP! Don't touch it!"

"Why?" asked Naruko.

"There is a Child behind that seal. I had thought they were finally destroyed when the Rikudo Sannin used them to create the nine bijuu. The Juubi was originally what remained of the Princess Star and what was left of the Orphans."

"So what is a Child?"

"A Child is an Orphan who has been bonded with HiME. Ever since the HiME star was sealed away, there have been no more battles. And I would like it to stay that way."

"Okay Miyu-nee."

They were about to leave when a large gust of wind hit them. Miyu was able to keep standing, but Naruko was knocked back...right into the seal.

"Naruko!"

In a manner reminiscent of Mai and Kagutsuchi, the seal began to crumble under her weight. A large roar was heard from behind the wall, as a massive golden dragon appeared. It had long tendrils and deep blue eyes like the ocean at night. The claws were at least three feet long in length, and dyed in topaz. It was long, at least the size of Kyuubi in length. It also had a tail that ended in nine distinct points, much like a fin. It looked straight at Naruko and roared again, before it butted it's head against her.

"Miyu-nee, what do I do?"

"You're fine Naruko. It won't hurt you. A Child will always protect it's HiME. But if you are ever beaten and your Child killed, then the one most precious to you will fade away forever, unless someone manages to recreate what Mashiro did when she sealed the star away."

"What's her name?" asked Naruko. She had the feeling it was a female.

"Why don't you ask her?"

Naruko looked at the dragon expectantly. Her eyes flashed, and Naruko said confidently "It's Arashihime."

"It looks like we'll be training in your Elements once Arashihime goes invisible."

"But I already know I'm a Wind type!"

"HiME had a special weapon that allowed them to fight against each other and the Orphans that were called Elements. For Mai, it was a pair of bracelets and anklets that created a fire whip and a shield at the same time," said Miyu.

The dragon bumped Naruko again, and she absentmindedly petted it. Once they were within sight of the next town, Arashihime vanished.

It wouldn't do for her HiME to get killed because of her.

* * *

"Now, for Element training, we need something that you can use almost immediately. Once you materialize them, then I can help you train to use them in a fight."

"How are we going to do that, Miyu-nee?" asked Naruko.

"Sparring practice. I don't want you to call out Arashi for this."

"Okay!"

Miyu charged, releasing her regular sword for this fight. Naruko bent in several ways to avoid the blade. It wasn't until she moved wrong that something finally happened.

A golden barrier blocked the attack, but otherwise did nothing.

"Well that's a start," said Miyu. Naruko was worn out from the fighting.

She helped the girl up and said "You go meditate while I bring back some meat."

"Yes, Miyu-nee," said Naruko.

* * *

It was dripping wet. She walked through the corridors like she had a thousand times before.

This time, however, their was something different. She could hear singing. It was the same song that she heard when she found Arashi. She could also hear growling, but the sound did feel angry to her.

When the corridor widened into a room, she could see the water that had pooled.

"_So you finally found him,"_ said the one who had been singing. It was a little girl, barely older than she had been when Miyu rescued her.

"Who are you?"

"_I am your great grandmother Alyssa. I sang that song to all my children before I died. And this...is the one who was sealed inside you."_

It was a massive fox, easily bigger than the Hokage Monument.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox..." she whispered in shock.

"_**Silence brat! If it wasn't for that damn Uchiha we would both be free!"**_

She didn't blame him for her parents death. She did feel sorry for him though.

She looked at Alyssa.

"Is there any way to change this to a forest? This sewer seems really depressing," she asked.

Alyssa jumped off the pipe she had sat on, and held out her hand. Naruko held it carefully, even though ghosts freaked her out.

"_Envision what you want to turn this into, and I'll help you make it."_

Naruko thought back to that little fox kit she had seen playing in the forest. He seemed so happy, yet terrified at the same time. So she swept away the sewer and created vast forests with a cave for the Fox to sleep in. Her chakra network became a spider's web of lakes, tributaries and streams. Her mind became the sun itself. Her knowledge became the stars. The sky was her emotional nexus.

She opened her eyes to a field of beautiful flowers. But the fox was still in a cage.

"How do I give him a collar?"

"_You'll have to unlock your Element before that can happen. Once those awaken, you can figure out how to use chakra chains like your mother and her family so many years ago."_

Naruko was thrown out of her mind by Alyssa, who planned to stay so that she wouldn't be alone.

Well, that and to chastise her descendant for using the wrong seal and leaving his daughter alone with that ungrateful village.

Naruko was ravenous when Miyu returned, and she ate without complaint. Miyu didn't flinch when Naruko brought up the Fox that she now knew was insider her.

"I knew after I rescued you. The people of Konoha still bear a grudge against it, but since it was sealed inside of you they took it out on the one they perceived as the Fox. Hiruzen Sarutobi should never have allowed that secret to be shared."

Naruko felt like crying. All the others out there like her (she had met the one who used bubbles, apparently he had figured it out immediately after meeting her) got to keep their status a secret, so why had the Hokage told about her? It wasn't his to share!

"It's alright Naruko. After that explosion everyone believe Naruto is dead and the Fox is going to reform elsewhere. You can be a regular shinobi now."

"I'll show that stupid village that they lost a great kunoichi, dattebayo!" said Naruko cheering up immediately.

"In the meantime, I saw a town roughly a day's walk to the East," said Miyu.

"Really? Which one?"

"I believe it's close to the Hidden Sand Village."

"Woohoo! They have a ton of Wind scrolls!"

"On the way to Suna, we will be trying to unlock your Elements. They are the only weapons no other shinobi can take from you, or be turned against you."

"Alyssa said something like that earlier," admitted Naruko. She had the great pleasure of throwing Miyu for a loop for once.

"What?"

"Alyssa. While I was meditating I saw her in the seal with the Fox. She helped me rearrange my mind so it worked better. I think she plans to stay there for the time being too," said Naruko.

Miyu looked both shocked and very happy.

"She also said that she was the one to draw me to Arashi," said Naruko.

"You were drawn there?"

"I heard the song you play on your audio file thingy, and I went to see who was singing. It stopped when I found that seal."

"Which song was it?"

Naruko cocked her head. She could hear someone requesting the song, and figured it was Alyssa telling her to sing. She knew the words, after all Miyu played it a lot whenever Naruko had trouble sleeping.

So she opened her mouth and began to sing it, unaware of the fact her hair started to glow like a miniature sun.

"_Who are those little girls in pain_

_Just trapped in castle of dark side of moon_

_Twelve of them shining bright in vain_

_Like flower that blossom just once in year_

_They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love_

_Just dreaming a place where they are free as dove_

_They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage_

_It' s only the fairy tale they believe_

_They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love_

_Just dreaming a place where they are free as dove_

_They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage_

_It's only the fairy tale they believe"_

"Alyssa..." whispered Miyu.

Naruko noticed her big sister was smiling in a way she hadn't seen before. Then she noted something else on her wrists.

She had four rings a pair of anklets and bracelets on each limb. They had three tomoe separated by a thick cord. Each circle had three different colored tomoe. Gold, white and blue. She touched the gold one and felt a breeze. The blue one felt both cool and hot, but it also felt really wet. The white one felt like static electricity. It sparked at the touch.

"I should have guessed there was a reason your Child was called Arashihime. You have the Storm bloodline, or something close to it," said Miyu.

"Storm?"

"Those three elements are Water, wind and lightning. We already knew about the wind, but we weren't aware the other two were so perfectly balanced with them. Fortunately I have some of their jutsu already on file, so we can work on those later. Some of them foolishly believed a storm would short circuit me," said Miyu sourly.

All it had done was boost her batteries and give her a few more centuries. Since the technology which created her had been lost, she found she could periodically recharge in lightning storms using small bolts. More dangerous but easier than trying to find an outlet.

Naruko trained in bringing her Elements out whenever they were alone, particularly at night. During the day they acted like a civilian pair of sisters. Miyu had an idea of how to disguise Naruko's training as a rather strong case of ADHD, which generally meant she had trouble sitting still.

It also helped that Naruko was given specific topics to avoid, namely jutsu, chakra or bijuu. Instead she talked about Magical Girl shows she had seen, which covered up most of her talk.

Because of her bright orange dress which made it impossible to actually _miss_ her in a crowd, most shinobi would dismiss her as a genin or chunin in a heartbeat. She was simply too noticeable and loud.

At least now that she could make contact with the Kyuubi they had started to open a dialogue.

In exchange for allowing him to roam her head, he let her use small amounts of his chakra unless the situation warranted it. She was barely ten and she could already go up to a single tail without loosing control.

It helped that for some reason the Kyuubi didn't view Miyu as a threat or nuisance. Something about how she helped form the Bijuu by splitting the Ten-Tails for the Sage...

* * *

She spent the day wandering, acting like a civilian. All shinobi training was put on hold until they were alone, to avoid trouble. Unless she was attacked first anyway.

It was because of her wanderings that she ran into a red-head who Kyuubi hissed was his younger brother Shukaku. The one who went insane with bloodlust.

She tapped him on the shoulder, noticed he had a ball in his hands and asked "Want to play?"

The boy blinked twice before he asked "Is this a trick of some sort?"

"Nope," said Naruto, popping the 'P' sound.

"Are you from here?"

"Also no. My sister and I travel all over the place because of certain issues we have with Hidden Villages. My name is Naruko, what's yours?"

"Gaara no Sabaku."

"Wanna play Gaara-kun?"

Gaara's smile was only _slightly_ terrifying. The two kept at it for hours and Miyu found her later eating takoyaki with the redhead. She immediately recognized him as the container of the first tail.

Which was why she approached him right as the the guard had become lax. They rarely paid him any attention anymore, unless the Kazekage felt like sending another idiot who had royally pissed him off on a suicide mission to kill their weapon.

At least ten of their chunin had jumped ship, so to speak, rather than deal with the ANBU coming after them for turning down the mission.

Gaara was very surprised when 'Mother' refused to kill the impudent woman before him. Apparently even insane the Ichibi recognized Miyu.

The next week the two left Suna, though this time Naruko had several new jutsu scrolls to practice with, all Wind styles.

Gaara bribed Temari with a full month free of death threats and actual civility if she got him those scrolls. In exchange Miyu gave him something new to read and a light that wouldn't hurt his eyes.

They left him while he studied how to make and possibly manipulate glass.


	5. Fox and Alice Chapter One

"Why the hell am I the one stuck guarding the facility?" complained a blond ninja.

"Because of what we found in Orochimaru's notes, dumbass. Out of the three of us, you were the most likely to survive if that virus he had called 'dangerous to the point of stupidity' got loose. Besides, we drew straws and you lost for a change," said a raven haired teen.

"The one time my luck could have helped me, and it screws me over. Figures. So what's my job again?"

"Guard the facility and see if we need to raid it, or worse, destroy it so that the virus never escapes. Anything Orochimaru thinks is a 'fucking stupid idea for a weapon' has to be dangerous."

"I still don't know why he never bothered to experiment with it," said the pink haired medic.

"According to Kabuto before I killed him, the chances of a mass outbreak of the virus were too high even for his standards. Well, that and it didn't even work as advertised. According to him the infected were little more than mindless beasts out to infect others."

"You know it's a bad idea when someone who is so morally bankrupt that he experiments on infants still in the womb says it isn't worth their time..." snorted the blond.

"According to his entry, they didn't care who he was so long as he had the cash to pay for a ticket to see the demonstration. He also stated that he could have given the money he paid to Tsunade for all the good it did him."

"Ouch," said the blond.

"Now, your cover is simple enough. You're a hired guard sent to keep spies out of the Hive."

"Frankly so long as they aren't planning to use the virus I could care less," said the blond.

"We know, but you shouldn't advertise that fact," said the other boy.

"Look Naruto, just don't blow your cover. This place really has Tsunade-sama worried," said the pink haired girl.

"Wish me luck then, Sakura, Sasuke...hopefully I won't die from boredom..."

And with that, Naruto went to his job interview.

* * *

Naruto yawned. He _hated_ guard duty. Everyone knew him as Nate, and got along with him well enough.

Well, after he told them bluntly that if the put any needles within a ten foot radius of him again he would shoot them. After that the scientists left him alone.

He was about to fall asleep, again, when he noticed someone acting oddly. He knew everyone in the Hive, but this guy didn't belong.

"Oi. Who the hell are you?"

The man gave him an odd look, but got outside the doors right before the thing closed on them. Naruto glared at him.

"What the fuck did you do?" he demanded.

The man tried to attack him, Naruto put him in a hold.

Then the alarms blared and he watched the people he had gotten to know fall to the ground.

"Containment. You son of a bitch. You let that fucking virus out didn't you?!"

Then the gas started to come out. Naruto held his breath and reached for his special mask that he kept on hand at all times. It was fitted with a special seal that neutralized almost all poisons and toxins that could be breathed in.

The fox in his stomach could handle the rest.

The man went down like a brick. Since he was stupid enough to let out the virus, Naruto left him. But not before he took a look inside the case the guy was carrying.

"Oh you son of a... I hope you get eaten by those damn things."

Inside the case was the virus and the only known cure. Naruto pocketed the cure and one vial of the virus inside a seal just in case he got caught. Umbrella never could figure out what they were, and he had told them they were some drawings he liked to do.

Naruto ran up the shaft and noticed that the doors were closed. He didn't feel like opening the door in case the virus somehow escaped.

So instead he took out his radio and called in.

"_Pinky, Red Eye, you there?"_

"_Fox, what the hell is going on? The Hive just went berserk!"_ said Pinky (AKA Sakura.)

"_Some fucker just released the virus. I got all but one of the cure and one vial of the actual virus in a scroll. The Red Bitch just went into containment mode, and I think she plans to kill anyone stupid enough to come down here."_

"_Stay put. I just got rumor of a strike team heading to find out the situation. I'll be with you in a bit."_

* * *

Five and a half hours later Naruto heard the door open. Sasuke was there with a strike team...along with one of the other guards for the Hive. From what he remembered her name was Alice.

"Who are you?"

"Bout fucking time someone showed up. That Red Bitch went homicidal!"

"Do you know why the Red Queen went rogue?"

"Some bastard sneaked past me during my break and got in. Next thing I knew, I was outside next to the train and the containment sirens went off. I managed to get a mask on to keep from passing out, but the fucker who let the virus loose got a good dose of it."

"Is he still here?"

"If he wasn't, I would have been outside the doors by now. I'm not about to let that virus out if I can help it, especially not with the side effects!" said Naruto.

"What side effects?"

"It reanimates the dead. Ever seen that flick with the farm house with all those zombies walking around trying to kill people? Well if you go down there that is _exactly_ what you'll find yourself with!"

"Nate's not kidding. I heard a rumor the Hive was experimenting with reanimation."

"We're still going down there. We need to confirm if the Red Queen has gone rogue or if the virus has been released."

"Seth, what's your call?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"We go in. Someone has to make sure these idiots survive."

Naruto cursed so well that the others looked at him amused.

"Just to be clear, I am _not_ dealing with the Red Bitch. Last time she nearly fried me with those fucking lasers!" said Naruto.

"What lasers?"

"Some moron thought lasers would be a good defense for the Red Bitch. Like people would be interested in that brat when the more interesting prize is the damn virus."

Sasuke looked at his friend. He had a good point. Naruto sidled up to Sasuke.

"Red Eye, what's the plan if the virus _has_ gotten loose?"

"I don't give a care what she said. You spam those clones of yours like they're confetti if you have to, I want to leave this place alive dammit!"

Tsunade had told them no overt jutsu. They didn't want Umbrella to get the idea to test on her shinobi.

The irony was that according to Sakura's test, the virus had no effect on people with chakra. Which meant out of the strike team sent to investigate, only Sasuke and Naruto were immune.

At least Naruto had kept his samples from being used. After the third time he nearly blew up a lab because some moron tried to stick a needle in him to see what effect the T-Virus would have on his blood, they had left him alone to guard the Hive.

They had complained when he destroyed all the samples of his blood and hair. He had shot back at them that he was hired to guard the place, not act as a damn test subject.

* * *

Naruto wasn't surprised to see the labs flooded. He had asked upfront about the main defenses, which was the only reason he knew about the defense for the Red Queen.

His employer wasn't happy about the fact that he demanded to know what sort of defense he was going to deal with, but Naruto was very persuasive about it. He had to know what he could use if there was ever an attack on the Hive.

When he met the Red Queen, he knew they weren't going to get along. At all. There was a reason he called her the Red Bitch, to the annoyance of the programmers.

"We're going in."

Naruto stopped the lead agent.

"Not a fucking chance. I told you, that bitch has lasers in this corridor. No way is she _that_ easy to hack."

"Then what would you suggest?"

"Seth, cover those cameras. I don't want her to see this..."

"On it."

He took out a can of spray paint and hit the cameras. It covered the infrared as well.

Within seconds a team of Naruto appeared. One took the device which would open the door, the others henged themselves to look as the lead soldier and his friends.

Once the clone had the door opened, the others moved in. suddenly the doors shut, and the laser grid activated. The team watched as the clones got sliced and dice by the grid. Naruto looked at the lead soldier with a look.

"Did I, or did I not say the bitch has lasers?"

"I'm more interest in that copy trick of yours. Can you send more in to put in the device?"

"Can you activate it remotely?" he asked back.

"Nate, what about the people above us?"

"Get them down here before we activate it. Once the power is out those things will get loose," said Naruto.

"I'm on it," said Sasuke. A shadow clone later and he had the others coming down.

"I thought you said he ordered us to come down here?"

"More like I didn't feel like watching you get eaten," said Naruto.

"_**You're all going to die down here,"**_said the Red Queen.

"Keep telling yourself that...Bitch," said Naruto.

Suddenly all the lights went out, and the locks came undone. Naruto's sharper hearing heard the sound of the creatures moving.

"Fuck...Seth, those _things_ are loose now."

"How bad are they?"

"A good knock to the head or where the spine meets the skull can take them out, but the problem is if you get bit or scratched. I will say this right now, if any of you get bit or scratched, I will shoot you where you stand."

"On what grounds?" demanded the leader.

"The virus they were working on down here. It infects anyone who gets bit or scratched. The cure might be in one of the labs, but there wasn't any satisfactory response to it. And if you get surrounded, then you are screwed. Anything reanimated by the virus devours anyone infected."

"How do you know about this? You don't have clearance!"

"So? People chat when you bring them coffee. Not like they couldn't dose me with the same shit they hit the topside with."

While they were arguing, they were surrounded by the dead.

The second he saw the 'survivor' he immediately grabbed his gun and shot her in the chest. Unfortunately he had been aiming at her head.

"What did you do that for?" demanded the female soldier.

"Because I saw that Red Bitch dose the place with Halon. There's no way she would survive that!" said Naruto. He was proven correct as the researcher got back up and kept walking towards them.

"That chick got hit in the heart...so how the hell is she still walking?!"

"Aim for the heads you dumb ass! A good hard knock to the spine or head tends to keep 'em down!" yelled Naruto.

Sasuke cursed, and his hand went to where his sword usually was if he were home. Naruto yelled, and tossed him something. It was another scroll.

Sasuke bit his thumb and drew it across the drawing. He then brought the newly unsealed sword out in a smooth motion. They were back in business.

Even with his clan's eyes, he never could get the hang of guns.

In a swift motion, the raven haired boy started cutting off heads. Naruto wasn't far behind him with his fuuma shuriken.

The soldiers learned to duck when they heard the whizzing sound nearby.

"What the fuck is that thing?!"

"Shuriken! Keep heading back to the Bitch's chamber!" Naruto yelled back.

In all the confusion, several ended up in a different area than the others.

* * *

Alice and Matt barely managed to make it to the Queen's chamber, where the others were waiting. They had lost four of them, including the medic.

Naruto was about ready to fry the bitch permanently. Sasuke was in the mood to melt her hardware.

After a while the others didn't comment on whatever odd tricks the two used, since it was because of Nate and Seth that they were even alive.

They had gotten used to the sight of several copies of Nate running around.

Mostly because while the infected could scratch and bite them, they couldn't get the virus.

"I love having cannon fodder to use. Their uses are as high as their death rate," said a happy Naruto.

"This coming from the only person here who can spam himself by the thousands all day and never get tired," said Sasuke annoyed.

"Stamina freak. How long until that door closes permanently?" asked Naruto.

"Less than an hour. How the fuck do you plan on getting us out?" asked Rain. (Naruto finally learned the lone female soldier's name.) Alice was more of a guard dog for the mansion up above.

"Normally I would spam clones to take out the freaks outside the door. But that dining hall had something even worse. No way are we taking that route," said Naruto.

"What do you mean?"

"They didn't just experiment with the dead down here...they modified them as well. I heard one of the other scientists calling it 'licker' or something. Whatever it was, it's bad."

"I have a better question. I know these people worked and lived here, but what about you? I know you too well for you to stand being down here for months on end. And I doubt you took that train," said Sasuke.

"Most of time I could handle it, but a few times...FUCK! Why didn't you speak about this sooner! I forgot there's a second way out!"

"What?!"

"Nate here is a bit claustrophobic. Aside from being a stamina freak of nature, he can't go for days on end without fresh air...or ramen for that matter. So knowing him he would have snuck outside for a few hours to work out," said Sasuke.

"Damn straight. I gotta have my ramen fix and those clones can last for hours down here."

"Where's the second exit?"

"Well...it's not so much of an exit as...I made a tunnel out of here... The Red Bitch only controls the exits made by Umbrella. She couldn't exactly report an uninfected human leaving the building when all signs and people said I was still there. Besides, it takes a good punch to make a clone disappear, and none of the workers here have that much arm strength."

"So where is it?" asked Alice.

"The dobe here could make one wherever the hell he wants. He could even tunnel us all the way to the train," said Sasuke smirking.

"Can it Teme. I already have both the virus and anti-virus. Stole it from the bastard who set it loose in the first place. Once we're out I'm going to turn the earth behind us into solid stone. Fuckers can't dig through that like they can earth."

"How the hell can you do that?" asked Rain.

"I supply the stone," said Naruto.

"And I supply fire hot enough to melt it and anything it comes into contact with. I'll send a clone to make a report, and claim that all hands were lost because of the virus and that I would recommend purging the facility. You guys scatter so they don't find out what really happened."


	6. Dream Eater Naruto Chapter One

Kushina coughed up blood. While she had survived the removal of the fox, it was unlikely she would live through the night anyway. So instead she started to paint a seal. Not on herself, but on her infant son. If she couldn't be with him in body, she could still be with him in spirit.

Besides, there was a side function to what she was doing that Minato didn't know about. He had seen it before, but since she never told him the full spectrum of what it did he had no idea what it actually was.

He just thought it was a random seal that her grandmother put on her so she could store things.

Minato came and took their son away a few moments after the seal was set, and she ran to keep the Kyuubi from killing him.

* * *

_Seven years after the attack..._

Little Naruto ran for his life from the mob, eventually making it into a rather plain building and ducking behind the desk before anyone had the sense to stop him. Not that they would.

The ANBU took one look at the mob outside, and did their jobs in dispersing it. In the meantime one of the new recruits was handling the shivering boy who relaxed once he realized he had inadvertently come into the headquarters of the mask people who were the only ones to actually _stop_ people from killing him.

One of them, who reeked of snakes and dango, even handed him a book to look at while the ANBU got rid of the mob and they set a schedule so the boy would live to make it to tomorrow.

* * *

_Inside Naruto's dream..._

"**Man! I thought this would never come! Freaking seal takes _forever_ to set up so that the guide can come out!"**

Naruto stared at the red-haired woman with green eyes.

"Who the heck are you lady?!" said Naruto, immediately jumping on the defensive.

The woman stretched some more before grinning at him.

"**Hiya! My name's Natsu, and I'm your guide to the power that will wake up in you next year!"**

"What power?"

"**The power of dreams silly! Though thanks to the fact you have a second seal that was placed after the one your mom put on you, my personality is mostly based on your mom's. In fact, she can speak through me when you get strong enough!"** chirped the red head.

"My...mom?"

"**Yup! She's in here somewhere, but she doesn't have the strength to come see you right now. But don't worry kiddo, I'll be here to help you out whenever you need it. For now though... Let's get you started on your power!"**

Naruto would wake up with a massive headache and more questions than answers. And whenever he had questions, he went to see the old man.

* * *

"Hello Naruto," said Sarutobi.

"Hey old man, do you know of anyone named Kushina?" asked Naruto. The old Hokage started to sweat, big time.

"Where did you hear that name?"

"A spirit that said my mom's name was Kushina told me. Right before she started to make me memorize a bunch of random stuff that didn't really make sense..."

Sarutobi froze.

"A...spirit? What did it look like?"

Naruto took out a piece of paper and drew to the best of his ability, which wasn't much. It barely looked like a person.

Sighing, Sarutobi reached into a small compartment built under his desk and pulled out Uzumaki Kushina's Jounin photo.

It was safe to tell Naruto about his mother, she didn't have nearly as many enemies after her than his father did.

"Naruto, did she look like this by any chance?"

Naruto took a long, long look at the photo.

"That's her! Only she was shorter than the photo and her hair was in a pony tail! And she had some weird kimono on..."

"Naruto, this is Uzumaki Kushina. She died the day you were born," said Sarutobi.

"Was...was she related to me?"

"She's your mother. There was a complication when you were born and she died, but she loved you very dearly. Now, did this spirit tell you anything?"

"Only that she was glad to have finally woken up since the seal mom placed on me took so long to activate. She said I would get some weird ability next year so I had time to prepare."

"This...ability...wouldn't happen to be a bloodline limit would it?"

"Nah, she said I would start my training on 'the chains' once my chakra was fully awake and I had a year of training under my belt as a ninja. She also said that it would be a while before the seal allowed her to man-i-fest outside the seal."

"What seal Naruto?" he had a horrible feeling the boy was being manipulated by the fox.

"The one under the con-tain-ment seal. You can't see it because every time I channel chakra, it get's overlooked. She said that mom wasn't expecting Dad to put that seal on top of hers..."

"Naruto, you can't put seals on top of each other," said Sarutobi.

"You can if they don't act against the second. According to her, this just gave the bars a chance to breath every once in a while without disrupting the second seal."

Sarutobi took a moment to translate the hidden message.

So this was Kushina's last gift to her son? A strange ability that hadn't even manifested and a spirit that allowed Kushina to take a break occasionally from holding the fox back?

And what sort of seal could she have possibly have put on her son before Minato sealed the fox in him? There were a very select few seals that wouldn't interfere with the one Minato used, and Jiraiya couldn't pull off any of them.

"In any event, I want a full report once it starts to kick in so we have an idea of what it does. If it's harmful, I don't want you to continue," said Sarutobi.

"Fair enough. I'll ask Natsu-chan later."

"Natsu?"

"Well she's so bright and warm that reminds me of summer, so Natsu. She doesn't mind."

* * *

_One Year Later..._

Naruto ducked behind the ramen booth, and got ready for school. A mob had formed without warning, mostly of drunken morons who should know better by now.

Especially since Natsu-chan had him tell the Hokage something that had him pale rather fast.

Something about how if Naruto overused his abilities to defend himself from the mobs, then the seal would weaken to the point that not only would the seal break, but the end result would be that the entire Land of Fire would end up in an endless series of nightmares that would be impossible to break and anyone who came there would fall prey to it.

This was mostly because the Kyuubi knew very well how to manipulate the seal to the point that it could fuel such a devastating genjutsu, all while staying safely in Naruto. Though by that point the blond boy wouldn't even be considered alive, merely a human form for the fox...

Needless to say the guard around said blond child doubled once he learned that particular fact.

Today though. Today was the day Natsu had cleared him for using his new tricks. It had taken him months to figure out what the seal actually _did_ before he got to use them, but once he figured it out he was giddy to try them out.

Once he had his stash of clothes for the day, he got ready to leave for the Academy. He kept all his clothes hidden in Ichiraku's Ramen Stand because the mob wouldn't damage it unless they _wanted_ to be sued for everything they owned. And the Hokage had made it clear he wouldn't be on the side of the mob if that happened. Neither would most of the shinobi forces, because Ichiraku's was a popular place to go, since he didn't care about bloodstains on his furniture or look twice at shinobi techniques so long as they didn't damage the stand.

Well, that and Ayame was the unofficial keeper of the peace with those ladles of hers. She once laid Might Gai out cold with the kitchenware simply because she had a headache and he had pissed her off. How, no one knows but it gave her the respect of pretty much every shinobi in the village for knocking out a Taijutsu expert...

And since Naruto was considered their son/little brother anyway, they never commented on the fact that all of his good clothes happened to be in the back of their stand. Besides, he practically funded the stand during the last economic crisis.

Ayame handed Naruto a box filled with food that he sealed quickly into a scroll and hid in his clothes somewhere. He learned early on that the teachers pretty much hated him for no reason and would do anything to make his life hell. If they stole the scroll, it didn't matter because all he would have to do was draw the same seal on something else and apply a little chakra and he would still have lunch.

The scroll was just to ease the headache of the technique people got when they thought too hard about it. Well, that and it kept any of the food from spilling.

Naruto ran out from behind the stand, wearing the hoodie that the Hokage had gotten him a while ago. It had what looked like golden cat ears on top, though you wouldn't see it unless he pulled it over his head. It had the added effect of hiding his face while he trained his new ability.

Well that and it made Ayame squeal with girlish delight as she practically hugged him to death whenever the hood was up. Something about him being so cute she couldn't help herself...

Naruto was actually scared of what would happen if he wore the hood up in class...the girls might mob him instead of Sasuke!

"Hey Dumbass!" yelled Kiba.

Naruto flipped him off (he learned it from the scary lady who smelled of snakes) and went to sit next to Shikamaru. He was one of the few clan raised kids who didn't look down on him...since it was too troublesome to believe some stupid rumors the adults made up according to him.

"So what's my dream prediction for tonight?" asked Shikamaru.

Naruto had some weird ability that let him see what people would dream that night. Shikamaru tested it, and to his surprise Naruto wasn't lying. So every day during school he asked for a prediction.

In exchange Shikamaru gave Naruto three rice balls. It was a small price to pay just to insure he didn't have any bad dreams while he cloud watched. Sometimes Naruto even joined them.

Chouza and Shikaku (Chouji and Shikamaru's dads) initially were worried when they found out Naruto had befriended their sons, since the Hokage heard from Naruto that there was a second seal under the one that held the Kyuubi at bay that had activated.

It wasn't until Shikaku heard what Naruto could do that he finally figured out what the seal did.

It turned Naruto into a human Baku, or dream eater. Aside from being able to see what dreams people would have that night, Shikaku had no idea what else Naruto could do.

Naruto made goggles with his hands.

"Hmm... We have reds, blues and a little yellow. You're going to be sleeping on clouds again knowing you."

"What about me?" asked Chouji.

Chouji had another bento box as his payment.

"Let's see... Same as last week. Prepare to be surrounded by the best food around while you eat all you can handle," said Naruto. It was Chouji's favorite dream.

"Oh yeah? What about me?" asked Kiba.

Occasionally Kiba challenged Naruto's weird ability, and if he got it right then Kiba would lend Naruto some training scrolls.

Naruto looked at him and frowned.

"Bad dream night," he said.

Naruto didn't like bad dreams. And he wasn't ready to take them away just yet.

"How bad?"

"It's only a little dark, but it's still going to be unpleasant."

"Damn. Hate those..."

"I have a tag that should get rid of it for some of your onigiri...or a training scroll."

"Sold! Here," said Kiba, handing a training scroll. He couldn't make heads or tails of it, but it was a small price to pay to avoid a nightmare.

Naruto pulled out a tag which Kiba accepted. It was common knowledge that Naruto's tags were highly effective.

Probably why the Hokage was helping Naruto in seal training. Naruto was a natural at them, and could easily become a Fuinjutsu specialist.

* * *

Naruto sat on his little cloud. Natsu showed him how to make it using Wind and Water chakra. So long as he was on it, or physically touching it, he was invisible to everyone.

"_**Ready, Chibi?"**_

"_Ready, Natsu-nee-chan!"_

Naruto took a deep breath and activated the tags he passed out. It was late enough that any of the students who paid for one would be sound asleep. Little balls of light came to him, and he used his chopsticks to eat them like dango. Naruto had come to like the taste to dreams.

Plus on days he was unable to pay for food, they made an excellent substitute.

He took one last gulp and patted his stomach.

"_That was great!"_

"_**Naturally! Dreams get better the more you eat them! Besides, you've gotten a lot better at holding the bad ones down, even the ones that should by all rights give a child your age nightmares."**_

"_Those really taste weird..."_

Naruto has his cloud drift down to the top of the Fourth's head. It was his favorite spot to sleep, since there was an unofficial rule that people weren't allowed up there at night. He found his usual branch and grabbed the cover he had stashed earlier. Once he was comfortable, he went straight to sleep.

Natsu went to work digesting the dreams he had eaten, since he was still too little to do it himself. That was part of her job as the spirit of the Dream Seal.


	7. Hinata Mitarashi Chapter One

It was a rather boring day when everything abruptly changed...though it was years before anyone recognized this fact.

It all started when Hinata timidly asked her cousin if he wouldn't mind her borrowing the weights Gai had given him. Neji had refused to wear them, increased strength or not, because according to him they looked too damn tacky.

Well, that and they apparently gave him trouble with his Gentle Fist style, but mostly because of the way they looked.

Neji had given them to her, while mentioning that having them couldn't possibly help a failure like her. He didn't notice the angry look that shot across her face, as it had passed too quickly.

From then on, Hinata wore those training weights everywhere, except in her room and on days off. Hiashi didn't notice, but quite a few branch members did. They were curious why she had suddenly changed, but no one was willing to ask and bring Hiashi's attention on the poor girl.

What they didn't know was that once Hinata had gotten too used to the weight, she used her chakra to increase it.

Neji had no idea that they were special chakra-conductive weights that were designed to increase every time they came into contact with enough chakra. It was a deceptively simply trick, and for someone like Lee, who had a limited amount, it was the perfect way to increase his stamina without having to increase the amount of clothes he wore.

She was very tempted to asked Gai where he bought them.

(Gai hadn't been offended Neji had given them to his 'worthless cousin', in fact, according to him it meant Hinata had found her own "Flames of Youth". Neji had left that day with a massive migraine and the sincere hope Hinata never found the desire for green spandex.)

* * *

What had started out as little changes quickly lead to ones even Hiashi noticed.

For starters, Hinata spent far too much time observing people and hiding in the background to be normal. Then there was the sudden change in the way she moved (some of that was partly due to the new weights she had, but Hiashi had the feeling she was hiding something).

Originally Hinata struck like a Hyuuga would at the tenketsu. But a few days after she started wearing the weights her movements became far more harsh. Almost snake-like in fact.

She would strike like a viper and retract before anyone could retaliate.

It was disturbingly similar to a certain jounin he knew that worked as one of the best Torture and Interrogation specialists in the village. The horrifying thing was that the new movements suited Hinata...far too much for Hiashi's liking.

The only problem was that even though he had branch members keeping an eye on her almost all times of the day, not once had she met the infamous Anko Mitarashi.

In fact, when questioned the woman had no knowledge of the girl.

Which brought to mind the simple question...where had Hinata picked up that form?

Hinata was many things, but overt was not one of them. What Hiashi was completely (and possibly blissfully) unaware of was that Hinata no longer considered herself a Hyuuga.

Not since she came back.

Hinata was not from this time...she came ten years from the future where everything had gone to hell in a hurry and the entire world was in a genjutsu based nightmare that very few survived to tell about. The war had massacred the entire village, and many cursed the name Uchiha.

Even her longtime crush (and later boyfriend) had been affected. He was no longer the cheerful blond who would paint the Hokage Monument and give the upper level ninja a merry chase before Iruka captured him.

He was a hollow man, and it was only Hinata who kept him going. Which was why she had taken this risk.

Yes, it would mean he wouldn't see her again, but she was willing to give up their future together if it meant saving him from such a cruel fate.

Hinata Mitarashi-Uzumaki was not a woman you wanted to cross.

(A year into her dating Naruto, some of the Hyuuga Elders had attempted to slap her with the upgraded Caged Bird Seal. She had only been spared because Anko happened to be nearby and killed them. She then adopted Hinata as her daughter, and taught her everything she knew for three years before being killed by Kabuto...who Hinata slaughtered with a smile on her face.)

Three years living with Anko had done wonders for her temperament. She was no longer a shy, timid little wallflower. She had become a true Kunoichi of the Leaf, and as an unexpected side effect, she had no desire to be known as a Hyuuga.

In the days after the war, being a Hyuuga meant you would turn your own family into slaves. It was only because Hinata had taken after Anko so much that she avoided that stigma.

The Hyuuga elders had been less than pleased when she abandoned her name. And thanks to a little known by-law in Konoha charter, if a ninja of chunin rank abandoned their name and family for another, then their original family couldn't touch them.

Which meant they couldn't place the Caged Bird seal on her without legal repercussions from the Shinobi Courts. The only reason they had been safe from it was because it was an internal affair.

The only benefit Hinata saw out of traveling to her past was that she could see Naruto again. The Naruto she had fallen in love with, not the shell that had taken his place.

When he had learned what she planned, he had not only helped her with the seals, but he had powered the thing to give her enough time to prepare. Six months wasn't nearly enough time to save the Third Hokage, no matter how much training she put in.

He had overshot his mark. Instead of a year of training, he had given her nearly a year and a half. Considering what she had to do, it was probably for the best.

A pity she couldn't approach Anko without letting the truth slip out. Not directly anyway.

* * *

Anko was rather curious. She had been approached twice by branch members of the Hyuuga clan who subtly asked if she knew of their heiress even remotely. It had only taken a short day off to find out what the fuss was about.

The Hyuuga Heiress fought like she did, only it was adjusted in such a way that it was easy to miss.

You don't learn subtlety like that unless you trained at it.

In fact, the longer she watched, the more similarities to her style she saw. Which wasn't just odd, it was disturbing, seeing as how she had never met the girl before and had only heard of her through the village grapevine.

Judging by the look in her eyes, the girl had a hell of a lot of anger, and it wasn't hard to guess who it was directed at.

So she turned into a genin (after knocking the bint out) and walked up to Hinata looking like the Haruno girl.

Hinata knew it was her without even using her bloodline.

"Hello Anko-san."

"You're good kid. Too good. How did you know...?"

Hinata looked at her, and Anko shivered.

This wasn't some snot nosed genin. This was a girl who had gone through hell and lived to tell about it.

"If you really want to know who I am, look up the village charter, by law 54, subsection 1 dash 1.13. If you can figure out the message, then we'll talk after I ditch my stalkers," Hinata said without making any outward appearances that something was up.

Anko naturally became curious, so she went to the library and looked it up.

* * *

"Subsections...subsection... Ah, here it is!"

Anko's eyebrows nearly went up into her hair.

**"_A chunin may abandon their family name in favor of another, provided the shinobi abandons all ties to their first family. Any children born after seceding from their former clan must be accepted back by the head and at least two Elders of said clan, or marry back into it._**

**_By village law, if a shinobi removes all ties, both in name and deed from their birth clan, then the remaining family may not harm the shinobi, clan law or not._"**

Anko was floored. This...this was some heavy stuff. She hadn't even been aware of such a by-law.

If she had when she was younger, there was little doubt she would have cut ties with her family name to try and become that man's daughter.

Which begged the question...how the hell did the Hyuuga _heiress_ of all people know of this law enough to cite exactly where it was?!

* * *

A few days later, 'Sakura' approached her again. Frankly Hinata had no issues with the fact Haruno was the one picked to be Anko's victim.

When Madara's genjutsu hit, she had been among the second wave to fall under it, to Naruto's sorrow. She had been beyond useless until Tsunade knocked some sense into her vapid head, and even then she was always the weakest of the group.

Even Ino was stronger than her.

Perhaps this would kick her ass into gear, though Hinata didn't have her hopes up.

"So...why do you want to abandon your clan?" asked Anko, her mouth moving in a way that any Hyuuga watching wouldn't see what she really said.

You learn a lot about movements when you were trained to ferret out lies and deceit. It was thanks to this that the branch house members had no idea that it wasn't Sakura speaking to Hinata.

"My clan...is full of spiteful, shallow people who are more interested in believing they are superior to others when even an orphan can tell they are slowly destroying themselves. I know for a fact there is a counter seal to the Caged Bird, but out of fear for the others those who know about it cannot seek help in removing that accursed tattoo. By removing myself from the poisonous atmosphere, I will show them the way out, even if I have to create an entirely new clan to do so," said Hinata flatly.

Hinata's dream had always been to unite the Hyuuga clan under one name and abolish that horrid practice forever. It wasn't exactly a secret that she hated it among the branch family, and it was only her age and 'weakness' that kept her from doing anything.

She had found that by-law and in her time the Hyuuga had been split into two factions. To the displeasure of the 'Main' house, a good number of branch and a few of the unmarked main house were against the seal entirely. The only reason they had never gone to war about it was because the main house knew they would be slaughtered without a second thought by Hinata and her group.

"Well if you were to abandon them, who would you go to?"

"Perhaps when I can safely inform you of the true reason my strikes look like yours, you could understand. Unfortunately I would rather not have you spoil the only effective disguise you can have while we speak...at least not until I hit genin later."

Anko didn't know why, but she had a feeling that there was some deeper message she would get later. So she dropped it and helped Hinata maintain the illusion that nothing was wrong...and set up a place where they could talk without interruption. To her surprise and delight, the girl not only knew the shadow clone trick, but she could create at least one, which was more than enough to fool her watchers.

They wouldn't think to check for a clone.

Anko spotted a woman who looked like a cross between Kurenai, herself, and another woman who wore the Neko ANBU mask.

How Hinata Hyuuga knew what Yuugao looked like without her mask on was just another reason why Anko had set up this meeting place so they could hit the Forest of Death later for some private talk.

No one went in there if she was around. Partly because of the dangerous animals but mostly because she liked to 'play' with anyone dumb enough to go in there.

Once they had eaten, the two headed off to the forest.

There Hinata released the genjutsu, at least that was what Anko had believed until the smoke cleared.

Where a tiny mite of a Hyuuga had been, there was now a confident young woman about her age with long silky hair and Hyuuga-eyes.

"Who are you, really?" she asked.

Hinata smirked in a way that was all too familiar to Anko...because she wore that one most days.

"My name is Mitarashi Hinata...and I'm from ten years in the future."

* * *

Anko was soon chatting with the amused Hinata like old friends.

The Snake Mistress had been pleased when she learned that not only had she royally pissed off the Hyuuga by adopting Hinata as her surrogate daughter in the future, but that Hinata had cleaned her name of Orochimaru's taint before her death.

Sure, hearing how bad things had gotten had been a sobering experience, but the proof Hinata had she was in fact from the future had been real enough for Anko to believe her.

Like naming exactly what pranks Naruto would pull for the next month and a half without fail, and watching the aftermath. If that didn't prove she was from the future, nothing would.

Anko was a little surprised at how relaxed she was around the girl. Sure, she had heard of Hinata from Kurenai, but she would have thought the girl would leave her clan for the genjutsu mistress rather than Kurenai's best friend.

Then she learned about how Kurenai had died protecting her child from kidnappers, and how her son was raised by his uncles, Konohamaru and Shikamaru.

Anko had been the only one to protect her from the Elders, and she had quite literally told them to shove a kunai up their ass to give the stick that was wedged so firmly up there company. And once she trained the girl, Hinata had looked up to her as a mother figure.

Hinata fully planned to abandon her clan and all ties to it, if it meant giving the Branch members a way to escape the seal.

The best part was that the Hyuuga clan couldn't do a damn thing about it, because if they tried to activate the seal after the marked members abandoned them, then it would be the Main Branch who would get into trouble.


	8. Frost and Fox Chapter One

Naruko Uzumaki stared at the white stuff in wonder. This was the first proper snow she had ever seen, and she had no idea what it was.

"Hey old man, what is this stuff?" she asked.

"That, Naru-chan, is snow. It's frozen rain, and because of our mild temperatures we normally don't get it. I suppose Jack Frost decided to give us a snow day today," said Sarutobi.

"Jack Frost?"

Sarutobi grinned as he told her the story of Jack Frost and the other spirits while they ate ramen. She had herd of Santa, the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy, but because of their near tropical climate they had never mentioned Jack Frost.

"You know sometimes, when you truly believe in the spirits, you can see them."

"That is soooo cool! Do you think I could see Jack Frost and thank him for such pretty snow?" asked Naruko wide eyed.

"If you really believe in him, maybe," said Sarutobi. No one ever believed in the spirits so much they could see them. They lived in a Shinobi village for goodness sake.

Naruko looked at the full moon and wished that she could see a spirit. She had almost no friends to speak of and even they weren't that close to her. She wanted one friend she could call her own, one that didn't see her as a demon.

So she did the one thing she was very good at...which was believing in something insubstantial like the good side of humanity even when she had only ever seen the bad.

She looked outside and believed Jack Frost was real, and not just some story told to children. She could see from her window how the other children relished in their snowball fights with their siblings and friends. She could see the embodiment of fun in the snow.

"I hope it snows again tomorrow," she whispered, before she went to sleep.

Outside her window, unseen by human eyes, a figure heard her wish and grinned. If she wanted snow, he would give her snow. At least _someone_ appreciated what he created.

* * *

Naruko woke up and found that the snow from yesterday had only grown. She grinned and grabbed her heaviest orange jumpsuit. Yesterday the teachers had given them the day off because of snow, which was so rare in Konoha that they decided to let the children have their fun.

Teaching them when the white, slippery and most importantly _cold_ snow was on the ground was more than an exercise in futility, it was almost impossible.

Today was going to be another snow day. She grinned as she found a pair of kunai that were barely sharp enough to cut and ran to the first training ground with a lake that she knew would be abandoned. She had seen a few of the older kids 'skate' on the water surface using chakra once, and she wanted to try it for herself.

Never mind she didn't know how to swim, or even use her chakra to walk on the water.

Naruko was out of her house before the watchers had come back from the shift change. It would be hours before they found her, and by that time certain things would change.

Naruko tied the two blunt kunai on her shoes, which were the only things she had that would qualify as shinobi standard. Her bright orange jumpsuit gave people headaches and caused enemies to find her with ease.

She stepped on the icy lake, unaware of the danger near the center of it. By the time she got the hang of skating (after many, many falls which didn't dampen her spirit in the least!) she was unaware of her watcher.

Jack grinned as he saw the little shinobi girl skate on the surface he froze. Most shinobi took it for granted when the temperature changed and snow fell. It hurt that no one could ever see him, touch him or hear him, but it was an old hurt and one he bore with ease of practice.

The girl squealed as she executed a sharp turn that caused her to go to the center of the frozen lake. Suddenly she screamed as the ice began to crack ominously beneath her and the dip made it impossible to escape.

Jack had heard the scream, and had frozen the lake solid enough that if she removed the knives she could possibly crawl out of the dip. He didn't realize that the dip was simply too deep for her to crawl out of safely.

He dropped down and reached his hand out to her. It was a futile gesture, he knew, since no one had ever seen him or touched him since he first awoke.

At least, he assumed it was a futile gesture. Without warning the blond looked right at him and grabbed his hand. Jack was surprised, but not so much that he forgot to help her out.

"Thanks!" she chirped.

"...You...you can see me?"

"Of course I can see you! I mean who can't see such an awesome hair color! It looks like snow!" said Naruko brightly.

"You can hear me? But no one's ever heard me!" said Jack in shock.

"Uh, I can hear you just find old man," said Naruko impishly.

"Old man? Do I look that old to you?" said Jack mock indignant. He was too happy about someone _finally_ seeing him to care about the remark.

"Your hair is white, and only Inu-san and Jiji have that hair color and they're both really old!" she countered.

Jack countered with a snow ball.

"OI! Now you're gonna get it old man!"

"Oh yeah? Just try and hit me!" laughed Jack.

By the time the ANBU showed up, Naruko was having a free-for-all with Jack, who they couldn't see. All they knew was that someone or something was hitting her with snowballs.

Inu was the one to go to the Hokage about it.

* * *

"An invisible person was throwing snow balls at Naruko?" he said in surprise.

"She kept calling him old man. We couldn't see who it was, and she was in plain view," said Kakashi.

Sarutobi on the other hand, chuckled. Trust Naruko to believe in the spirits so much that she could see them...

Naruko enjoyed playing with the 'old man' who finally told her his name.

"My name isn't old man! It's Jack!" he said laughing.

"You mean like the story Jiji told me? About the spirits who you can only see if you believe in them?" she asked wide eyed.

"Yup. I'm Jack Frost."

"That's soooo cool!" said Naruko grinning.

"I still can't understand how you can believe in me and not North or the others. I mean no one believes in me."

"It's okay, no one believes in me either," said Naruko.

"What?"

"I always tell people that one day I'll make Hokage, but no one ever believes in me. Not even the teachers. The only one who's ever nice to me is Jiji and the man who runs the ramen stand. But I'll show them! I'll show all of them!" said Naruko confidently.

"I bet!" laughed Jack.

After that fateful day on the lake, things changed for Naruko. First it was the fairies she kept seeing. Then it was the golden sand. Finally it all boiled down to Christmas in Konoha.

(Since no one in the village actually followed the religion that spawned the title, it was mostly celebrated as a winter solstice holiday. If the shinobi were very lucky they got the day off.)

* * *

Naruko made her wish and was about to go to sleep when she heard tapping on the window. She took one look at the windows and grinned.

"Hey Jack!"

"Hey Fox girl! Ready to meet North?"

"North?"

"Santa," Jack clarified.

"He's really coming?" she said with a large fox-like grin.

"Turn around," said Jack.

Behind her was a large man in red and black with twin swords on his belt.

"So cool! But no where near as cool as Jack!" declared Naruko. Jack didn't bother hiding his laughter at the look on North's face when she said that.

"I'm tempted to put you on Naughty list for that one. But is no matter," said North. He had a funny accent that Naruko had a bit of trouble understanding.

Jack grinned as he watched Naruko open her present. Though he was a bit surprised as to what it was.

Inside was a whole new outfit and a few shinobi gear. North rarely gave those out, since he was generally against the warriors despite being one himself.

"What's with the paper?" asked Jack.

"She channel chakra, she learn what element she is best at."

"Iruka-sensei showed us how to do that in class!" said Naruko.

Her energy did two things. It cut the paper in half while soaking it.

"Uh, what does that mean?" asked Jack.

"Haha! She is good at Wind and Water!"

"Cool!"

North left to continue his job. Jack opted to stay behind with Naruko until she fell asleep. The next morning, she dressed up in her new outfit which looked a lot like Jack's, to his amusement.

In fact, she almost looked like a blond version of him only with whiskers and an orange hoodie instead of blue. Plus she wore shoes.

* * *

The next spirit Naruko met was Bunny. He was taller than she expected...and more grumpy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. How is it you can see me mate?" asked Bunny.

"Wow, Jack wasn't kidding when he said you were as grumpy as the Uchiha."

"You know Jack Frost? I thought no one believed in him!" said Bunny.

"I do!" said Naruko cheerfully.

"In any case, what's your name kid?"

"Uzumaki Naruko! Future Hokage, believe it!" said Naruko.

"Well Uzumaki, next time you see Frost tell 'em I want a word with him about trying to poach my territory," said Bunny.

"What does poach mean?" asked Naruko, cocking her head.

"It means I don't want him trying to steal my territory!"

* * *

Naruko's first encounter with Sandy was in her dreams. She was diving into a pool of ramen only to be dragged into a different one. She met a short man made of golden sand who could only talk in pictures.

Knowing she was in a dream, Naruko tried to make shapes above her head. It took her a bit but eventually she succeeded. The gold man seemed delighted and they soon had a game of charades going on using dream sand. Eventually she woke up, but for the next week and a half they played that game every time she went to sleep.

It beat her usual nightmare of the mobs.

It was almost winter again when she lost another baby tooth. To her surprise, the Tooth Fairy herself came to pick it up.

According to the ditzy fairy, she was the only one Naruko hadn't meet. The girl grinned as tooth left one of her fairies behind in case Naruko ever wanted to visit.

Naturally whenever she was feeling especially down, she took the Fairy up on that offer.

* * *

Naruko was eager, for the first time in many years, for her birthday.

Namely because this year Jack promised to hang out with her until sunrise. They stayed close to the forests, mostly because Naruko had no desire to be anywhere near crowds that had the unfortunate habit of turning into mobs bent on her death each year.

Jack was grinning as he lead Naruko to a large lake.

"So Naruko, how would you like to learn how to combine water and wind chakra?"

Finding out they shared the same chakra elements meant Jack could pass on some of his tricks to her. Once, when he was still relatively young (for a spirit) he taught a small family how to combine the two into ice chakra.

They later became the Yuki clan. Jack tried to keep tabs on them, but in recent years they appeared to die off. There was one, though, that Jack was interested in because they had the feel of Winter's Blessing.

Naruko's smile light up the cold night air. With so few willing to train her to be a kunoichi, she grasped at any lesson she could.

The two worked for hours combining water and wind into the rarer form of ice. It wasn't until midnight that Naruko was able to make anything stronger than a cold blast of air. She was able to make a few tiny snowflakes.

The smile on Jack's face made all that training worth it. The bigger one on Naruko's face warmed Jack up more than having someone to believe in him ever did.

* * *

Jack was flying past the Land of Water when he felt the tug of Winter from an area he normally wouldn't look twice at.

The only ones with Winter's Blessing in the Elemental countries other than Naruko were the Yuki clan, which he had long since believed wiped out. Because he had granted them a tiny sliver of his ice make magic, they could see him clear as day.

Jack flew down to the tiny wooded area and found a young child practicing with an unusual trick that involved ice mirrors. Watching the kid jump between mirrors entranced him so much that he didn't notice a copy coming up behind him with a pair of acupuncture needles.

"Who are you?" demanded the child. If Jack didn't know any better he would swear that it was a female.

"Easy kid. I just wanted to confirm that there was a remnant of the Yuki clan in the area. I'm not here to cause trouble...too early in the season for it anyway," said Jack. If the girl could see him, that only confirmed her identity.

The senbon pricked the back of his hoodie. Jack decided a minor demonstration was in order, so he froze them in the girl's hand.

Behind the false Kiri ANBU mask, Haku's eyes doubled in size. This strange boy had the hyoton?!

Jack turned and her heart skipped a beat. His eyes were like ice and his hair like freshly fallen snow. She blushed behind the mask, glad that it hid her face.

"Now that we have that out of the way, I'm Jack. Jack Frost. What's your name?"

"Momochi Haku."

"Nice to see the Yuki clan is still around. I wouldn't want the trouble I got from the other spirits after giving your clan the Winter's Blessing and allowing them to pass the ice chakra ability on to the children to go to waste."

"Winter's Blessing?" said Haku dumbly. He couldn't be serious, right?

"Hyoton was the name they gave the ability I granted Tsurara and Iruka. But to the spirits like me, it's called Winter's Blessing, because ice can only be formed by Winter Spirits."

Haku thought carefully about what she was going to say next.

"Can you teach me?" she asked hopefully. Having to recreate the hyoton jutsu was a great deal of trouble. Especially on the run.

Jack grinned.

"You any good at pranks?" he asked in return. He wouldn't mind teaching this girl, but he wasn't going to do it the usual way. Naruko had been easy, all Jack had to do was put the training in the same frame of mind as a prank and she was hooked until she got it right.

She already had people slipping on random patches of ice in the school and dumping unexpected snow drifts on them. No one could pin in on her either!


	9. Shinobi of the Night Sky Chapter One

It had been such a normal day. Then again nothing was ever normal for her.

Naruko Uzumaki, the container for the Kyuubi no Youko, had been having a really crappy day. It all started nice enough, her legs moved like they should for about five hours...then came jutsu practice.

Her lower limbs locked up without warning, causing her to misfire her jutsu. What's more was that even though the Hokage had her checked (repeatedly, by standing over the medic shinobi to insure the reports weren't being altered) no one could figure out what was going on.

And it only happened when she used jutsu.

She lay on her bed, trying to figure out why she always messed things up.

Tomorrow was the worst day of the year, because it was the start of the Kyuubi festival. She hated it, because she always had trouble with the drunken idiots who went.

As her battered clock hit the twelve, she felt something awaken.

_**ANFANG. (Start)**_

The odd book, which was bound in chains that she had gotten for her birthday five years ago, broke the bindings keeping it closed as the pages flipped as if touched by an invisible wind.

A bizarre circle appeared on the floor and four figures appeared.

Each of them were in a strange uniform, and had weapons. One almost looked like a wolf of sorts with his ears.

"_The Book of Darkness has Awakened,"_ said the oldest one, who had long flowing dark rose hair that was held in a pony tail. Around her neck was something that looked like either a dagger or a closed ended kunai.

"_We are the Knights who collect magical power for the Book of Darkness and our master,"_ said the blond woman.

"_It is our mission to accomplish our master's goals,"_ said the lone male.

"_We are the Wolkenritter, please give us your orders,"_ said the youngest one.

Naruko was in shock. However, her ability to tell friend from foe said that these four wouldn't hurt her.

The fact they hadn't started screaming about demons also helped.

"Ano...who are you people?"

"We are the Guardian Knights who protect the Master of the Book of Darkness. We exist to protect that person alone, and to complete the book," said the 'leader'.

"And who is the master?" asked Naruko.

"You are," said the other woman, who had blonde hair like ripened wheat. It was barely down to her neck, and she had rings on a single chain necklace.

"Huh?!"

"You are the Master of the Book of Darkness," said the youngest one, a girl with bright red hair that was held back by twin pigtails that were braided a little past her neck. She had a hammer necklace around her neck.

"EH!?"

Naruko's poor brain short circuited and she passed out from shock.

By morning she awoke to find that no, it wasn't a dream and there were people now in her apartment that she didn't know. Along with what appeared to be a blue-furred Inuzuka-type wolf.

"Ano, who are you people?" asked Naruko carefully.

"Master, are you alright?" asked the rose-haired one.

"It's not Master. My name is Naruko! Uzumaki Naruko, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage!" said Naruko firmly.

"Naruko-sama," started the rose-haired one.

"Just Naruko. I hate formalities with a passion," said Naruko.

"Naruko-chan," the woman tried.

"That works," said Naruko.

"Naruko-chan, perhaps you should explain to us about this world. And in return we shall explain the Book of Darkness to you," suggested the rose-haired one.

"Okay! But Jiji knows more than I would, so you can ask him! But first, what are your names?" asked Naruko. Better to let Jiji know about them before the ANBU picked them up by mistake.

"My name is Signum, Knight of the Blade," said the rose-haired one.

"Shamal, Knight of the Lake and reinforcement specialist," said the blonde.

"Vita, Knight of the Hammer," said the girl.

"Zafira, Guardian Beast," said the wolf.

"Call me Naruko! Or Naruko-chan if you have to use formalities."

Sarutobi had a massive headache, and poor Naruko was the cause of it.

"So let me get this straight. You came out of the odd book we found at the sight of where the Kyuubi was taken down."

"We are part of the Book of Darkness," said Signum.

"And you four are samurai-shinobi hybrids who live to serve the master of this Book of Darkness," said Sarutobi, rubbing his poor head.

Signum nodded.

"Naruko, for whatever reason, was picked as your new master, but since she knows very little about this world and knew better than to try and work behind my back she brought you here," said Sarutobi.

Signum nodded again.

"Right...Horse, bring me the strongest sake you can find and some migraine relievers. I do believe it's going to be one of _those_ days..."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"While we wait, why don't you explain in detail what the difference is between chakra and magic and we'll work from there. And Naruko, why don't you take...Zafira, was it? Why don't you take him to get some ramen and put it on my tab?" said the Hokage.

"Ramen! Come on Zafira, you'll love it!" said Naruko.

Signum could tell this man was a warrior, and almost as dangerous as she was. While she and Sarutobi spoke of magic and chakra, finding out that the two were so similar that it was hard to tell the real difference, Shamal and Vita were undergoing a minor interrogation by Anko and Ibiki. Signum was going to be cleared by the Hokage and Zafira, well he had been in wolf form so they didn't bother with him. Hence why Signum didn't make a fuss while her 'Master' went to get something to eat. So long as one of them was with her, she would come quietly.

"So Naruko-chan, where did you find this wolf?" asked Ayame.

They lived in a ninja village. Once the initial shock he could talk passed, they treated him like they would any other intelligent animal. Inuzuka occasionally came with their partners, so they had wolf-sized bowls already there.

Zafira was right behind Naruko eating his own bowl while she devoured over ten.

"They found me!" said Naruko.

"They?" said Teuchi.

"Signum, Shamal, Vita and Zafira!"

"And where are the others?"

"Being cleared by Jiji! Their arrival was a bit of a surprise, but I'm sure Jiji can keep them out of trouble!" said Naruko.

"They're cleared, Hokage-sama," said Anko.

Vita looked ticked, and Shamal looked rather nervous.

"Signum-san is cleared too," said the Hokage.

"Can we see Naruko-chan now?" asked Shamal. Her nerves were frayed after dealing with Anko's unique...humor...for over an hour. She would never look at snakes the same way again.

"You'll find her about three blocks down, and if I know her, still arms deep in ramen," chuckled Sarutobi.

"Have I answered your questions, Hokage-sama?" asked Signum. She felt this old one deserved her respect.

"Yes. About that suggestion earlier..."

"They can start tomorrow while we prepare our new lodgings," said Signum.

"Excellent. I'll fill out the forms," said the Hokage.

_'Signum, what is that about?'_ asked Vita.

_'You and Zafira will join Naruko-sama at the Academy until she graduates. Zafira will have to take a smaller form though.'_

_'What about me?'_ asked Shamal.

_'The Hokage said that since Naruko's apartment couldn't possibly hold all of us, he will allow us to take an abandoned house as our own provided we take part in "missions" like the local military here.'_

_'And me?'_ asked Shamal.

_'When I described you ability to heal, he suggested you help out at the hospital and learn their "medical jutsu". From what I understand, jutsu is their form of magic,'_ said Signum.

They paused when they reached the stand, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Their new master had at least twenty bowls and counting stacked around her while Zafira was almost done with three.

_'What in the...?!'_ said Signum.

_'This...ramen...is both highly addicting and good. Our master appears to have quite a taste for it,'_ commented Zafira without pausing.

Signum took a spot next to Naruko, while Vita took the other. Shamal found the last stool open near them and sat down.

"So how did your talks with Jiji go?" asked Naruko.

"It went well enough. Vita and Zafira will join you at school tomorrow while Shamal and I move your things. Because your apartment is too small, the Hokage has agreed to loan us a house that has been abandoned until now," said Signum.

"Yay!"

"Everyone, I want you to welcome a transfer from outside the village," said Iruka.

The official story was that Signum and Vita were from Uzushiogakure and had come looking for Naruko. Since they weren't about to leave their 'family' behind they choose to move here with their friend Shamal. Zafira was listed as Naruko's new shinobi partner, having found him in the Forest of Death yesterday.

No one was going to disprove this, as Uzumaki were known for red hair, Zafira looked and acted like an Inuzuka nin hound, and Shamal...well she could use medical jutsu. And since Uzushiogakure was destroyed during the last war, it was unlikely that anyone would be able to disprove it.

Vita walked in, having been given new clothes to blend in better. She kept her hair in the twin braids, and her hammer remained around her neck.

"Meet..."

"Uzumaki Vita, Yoroshiku," said Vita.

"Eh?!" the outcry of Naruko the failure having a relative was pretty loud.

"No way! The failure has family?!" said a pink-haired girl with deep green eyes. The look Vita sent the girl gave her shivers.

"Naruko happens to be my cousin on her mother's side," said Vita. She tried to keep the anger out of her voice.

"Uzumaki-san, could you please sit next to your cousin?" said Iruka.

"Hai," said Vita. Naruko was practically bouncing in her seat.

Vita was practically swarmed by the other students at lunch. Fortunately Zafira took over protecting Naruko for her...plus this was an excellent exercise in telepathy.

"So Uzumaki, where did you find a ninken?" asked Kiba. His new puppy, Akamaru barked on his head in hello.

"I found in him in one of the training areas! His name is Zafira!"

"Nice to meet you Zafira," said Kiba.

"Hello," said Zafira.

"HE TALKS TOO?! Man you're lucky! You know how hard it is for use to find talking ninken?" said Kiba enviously.

"So is Vita-san really your cousin?" asked Chouji.

"Yeah, they showed up yesterday but apparently the gate guards were on a break so they had to wait a bit. But since they're planning on staying here I get to move in with them!" said Naruko.

"Sounds like fun," yawned Shikamaru.

Suddenly they heard a commotion from inside the Academy. Apparently Vita had gotten into a scuffle with Sakura over something the pink-haired girl said about Naruko. The teachers were having trouble pulling Vita off of her.

"Vita-chan, are you okay?" asked Naruko.

"I'll be fine," said Vita annoyed.

"Uzumaki-san, no fighting outside the practice ring or in training!" said Iruka. To be fair, some of the comments Sakura made about Naruko did warrant some sort of violent reaction. As a teacher, however, he tried to hold himself about those. At least against the students anyway.

Sakura looked like hell. A bruise was clearly about to form on her right eye, and she had been scratched up by Vita repeatedly. Vita had struck hard and fast.

"Sorry...sensei," said Vita.

"Stupid brat! Why did you attack Sakura-chan!?" demanded Ino shrilly. Several of the other Sasuke-fangirls agreed with the blond.

"Where I come from, we don't take people insulting our clan lightly. Be glad I didn't break your arms for that remark you made about Naruko-chan," snarled Vita.

_'Vita, what exactly did they say about Naruko that angered you so much?'_ asked Zafira.

_'If I told you, Naruko-sama would get into trouble for you maiming them,'_ replied Vita. She was still pissed as hell.

_'I told you, call me Naruko-chan!'_ said Naruko. She had been listening the whole time, which was why she knew what had been said. She was just used to it by now.

"Since this is your first day here, I'll let this pass for now Uzumaki-san. But in the future, please wait until taijutsu practice to take out your anger on any comments made," said Iruka.

"Yes Sensei!" said Vita a little _too_ eagerly for the girls to feel safe. Training was about to get a lot more painful for them.

_Time skip, two months later..._

The arrangement with the Hokage seemed to work perfectly. And as an added bonus, Naruko seemed to benefit from the situation as well...because she was being trained by Signum in how to use a sword.

Plus, with the addition of Signum and Shamal's wages, Naruko was finally starting to eat better. And with Vita and Zafira protecting her at the Academy and outside of it, the mobs no longer were able to hurt her.

However, not all was to her benefit. The strange problem with her chakra control, which had been irritating before, had grown to alarming levels. Now she was having trouble with more than just the clone jutsu. Her illusions were starting to fail as well.

And four months since the arrival of the Knights, Naruko started to feel numb from her legs down.

The Knights knew what was causing this, but because of the arrangement made with the Hokage to protect their master, they could not act in the Elemental Nations without bringing war down upon Naruko.

Which meant they had to travel off-world to save her.

"This may anger our Master," said Signum.

"Naruko will understand, I know it," said Vita. She was among the closest to their Master, next to Zafira.

"Still, it is troublesome that we must go off-world to fill the pages," said Zafira.

"But it is to protect our Master, we have no choice. What I would like to know is why the book's draining program hasn't acted up before now?" said Shamal.

For a young girl, she had been relatively unaffected by the book's nastier issues, such as the linker core draining, which was supposed to be quite severe. For it to take this long to truly affect her...was quite surprising really.

"How many pages will we need?" asked Vita.

None of them had so much as looked at the book since they had settled in, being more concerned about the villagers and protected Naruko.

That was why Shamal, who was usually designated the keeper of the Book, was very taken aback when she checked the status.

"What's wrong Shamal?" asked Signum.

"Over a hundred pages... there are over a hundred pages filled already!" she said in absolute shock.

"What?!" said Signum. She took the book, and look at it herself.

One hundred and thirteen pages were filled already, and most of it was chakra-based. Which meant the jutsu library had to have come from Naruko during the initial synchronization with the Book.

"How is this possible? I sincerely doubt Naruko even knows this many jutsu!" said Signum.

"Perhaps the Hokage would know," said Shamal. They were all quite shaken by this development.

"Should we ask him?" asked Vita.

"Later. Right now we need to start collecting," said Signum. They could solve this mystery later.

With a flash, they all vanished to another world.

The Book of Darkness had to be completed, if they were to protect their Master.


	10. Shinobi of the Night Sky Chapter Two

Naruko's condition quickly grew worse, not better over time. It became apparent that whatever caused her to freeze up while using jutsu had progressed to a more deadly stage.

Within seven months of their appearance, Naruko had slowly lost the ability to walk. Needless to say she was quite unhappy about being forced to use a wheelchair to get to class. While it had excused her from actual practice, she still had to do the theoretical work.

It was driving her crazy that she couldn't walk anymore.

* * *

"So, any idea what's causing this paralysis?" asked the Hokage. Shamal was working at the hospital as usual when he showed up. He had allowed them to take long breaks from missions once they told him why.

"Frankly we were surprised it took this long. She must have had a very strong linker core for it to have taken this long to physical affect her. Her problems using jutsu and her sudden inability to walk stem from the same source."

"And that is?"

"The Book of Darkness. It has been draining her linker core all this time, or her chakra I suppose. Ever since the book awakened, the drain has gotten worse, and now it has reached the point where it's affecting her physically."

"Can it be reversed?" asked Sarutobi. If not, then that book was going to be destroyed.

"If we can complete the Book, the draining properties _should_ be stopped, and possibly reversed. But we aren't too sure about it," said Shamal.

"How do you intend to complete it?"

"We drain the linker cores or chakra memory from others and add it to the book. Not all of it, mind you, but enough that they won't be able to defend themselves for a while."

"I see."

"So far we have been going off world to keep suspicion off Naruko-chan and your village. But there is always a chance someone will pick us up and try to stop us," said Shamal.

"Then might I make a small suggestion?" said Sarutobi. From what he understood, they were draining jutsu knowledge in a manner similar to the Uchiha with their Sharingan, only directly rather than through the eyes.

* * *

"Eh?! Signum-nee, you joined the Hunter Division? Sugoi!" said Naruko.

"The Hokage suggested it," said Signum.

His idea was that they split between draining mages/animals and draining missing nin. Since from what he understood, draining tended to make molding chakra near impossible for at least a week, they could make some money off of it by draining shinobi who had bounties and turning them in alive. It had the added benefit of adding to their coffers and helping Naruko out.

At the moment, Signum was being sent to Mizu no Kuni as a way to contact the Resistance there. She could use that time to drain some jutsu from the Mizukage's forces and earn them an ally.

It was a win-win for them, and it meant Naruko would be safe.

* * *

Vita was on NAW #97 (Non-administered World, meaning the TSAB had no real jurisdiction there. The Elemental Countries was considered NAW #109) when she hit their first snag.

The TSAB finally took notice of their activities of late.

_'Signum! I need help here!'_ Vita shouted through their link.

_'Vita, what's going on?'_ asked Signum.

_'The TSAB is more active on this planet than they were before! There's at least one Enforcer nearby!'_ said Vita.

_'Hold on, I'm coming,'_ said Signum.

Zafira was still with Naruko, as per their rules. One always had to stay behind with her, as a precaution. Unless she was spending the night with the Nara, Akimichi or Inuzuka anyway. They were the only three who let her spend the night. Tsume was quite interested in pairing Zafira with one of their hounds to see what they could get.

Zafira was still torn between avoiding her and Kuromaru, or protecting Naruko. It didn't help that Naruko laughed every time it was brought up.

Apparently she was of the opinion he needed to 'relax for a change'.

As Vita and Signum fought the two mages along with their support, Shamal was trying to absorb at least one of their linker cores.

Finally the one in white was caught in a bind, and Shamal managed to get her core. The one in black cried out in shock as she tried to rescue her friend.

The girl in white managed to get off one spell, but it was enough to break the barrier that Vita had placed earlier.

_'Everyone, retreat back to base!' _shouted Signum. They didn't need to get caught in a bigger battle with the TSAB when Naruko was still so weak.

Three streaks of light vanished from the planet. Unfortunately they were caught on camera...the TSAB now had confirmation that the Book was active again.

"Is it just me, or did the guardians look different than before?" asked Chrono.

"No, there was something very odd about their uniform," said Lindy.

Pictures came up on the screen, and the difference was noticeable immediately. All previous pictures of the Wolkenritter had them looking like, well, Knights.

This time they looked very different, but the main theme appeared to be movement and speed.

In fact when Nanoha looked at it much later, she would remark that they appeared to be ninja rather than knights. It was a rather odd clue that would come into play not much later...

* * *

"So you guys fought a girl my age? How good was she?" asked Naruko eagerly.

"She was very good, almost as good as us. But she was beaten by Shamal," said Signum. As far as Naruko knew, the girl was a missing-nin.

"Where is she now?" asked Naruko.

"She is being treated by her comrades, who managed to catch up to us. I felt it was better to retreat and try again later than attempt to fight her now."

"Wonder if I'll ever meet her," said Naruko. She yawned widely, so Signum helped her to bed. Naruko, the stamina princess of Konoha, was growing more and more tired lately. She was barely keeping up with the written portions of the Academy as it was.

Naturally this worried not only the Knights, but the Hokage as well.

* * *

_Four weeks later..._

Naruko's condition had gotten even more severe. Scans revealed that her organs were now in danger of the same affliction that kept her from walking.

Shamal came to the horrifying discovery that the cartridges she had been making were not from her magic, but from Naruko's own linker core. It explained the odd feedback they had been getting for a while now.

Oh course this was nothing to the reaction the Hokage had when he learned who one of their 'victims' was.

Apparently Signum had a run in with Itachi Uchiha himself, and managed to drain him almost dry. All of his jutsu and even parts of his Sharingan had been absorbed.

Finding out that the 'draining' could also absorb Kekkei Genkai had been quite a shock.

Signum had been more picky about her captures when they discovered that odd fact.

It was quite odd that over half the book was filled with jutsu, rather than spells for a change.

* * *

"Captain! I think we've narrowed down their base of operations," said Amy.

"Which world?" asked Chrono.

"Non-Administered World #109! According to records, while there is an established magical system in place, there is no set government for the TSAB to set up a branch office without causing issues," said Amy.

"Where exactly are they located?"

"According to scanners, their signature appears to be the strongest in the Village called Konohagakure, or Village Hidden in the Leaf."

"Is it possible to send an envoy there?" asked Lindy.

"Possible, but not recommended. Previous attempts at talks have never gone well because they were in the middle of different wars," said Amy.

"Get me all known reports on this planet, and we'll go from there," said Lindy.

Three days later, Lindy brought Fate, Nanoha and Yuuno onto the Arthra. She wanted them to try and establish contact with the leader of the village in hopes of resolving this peacefully.

The three mages came into the area and headed towards the gates.

* * *

"Welcome to Konoha. Can I see your travel papers?" asked Izumo.

"We don't have any papers. We were sent to see the village leader," said Nanoha.

"Now what could a trio of kids like yourself want with Hokage-sama? In any case, you would have to wait a while because he's gone to the capital and won't be back for at least two weeks," said Kotetsu.

The red head looked to her friends.

"What should we do? Lindy asked us to contact the leader," said the girl.

"Is it possible for us to leave a message and contact him once he's back?" asked the blonde girl.

"Leave it with us, we'll give it to him once he returns," said Izumo.

The red head scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to him. They would have to come back later to try and reason with the Master of the Tome of the Night Sky.

(Yuuno had found the true name of the book at Chrono's request.)

* * *

"You say they sent children to make contact?" said the Hokage. The truth was that he had never left the village at all. Not since Naruko had been hospitalized by that damn book.

"We told them you left for the capital. They'll be back in a few weeks," said Izumo. The children in question had absurd chakra reserves...at least the girls did. The boy had the chakra of a chunin at least.

"Hmm... Mouse, could you bring Shamal-san or Signum-san here?" said Sarutobi.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"You wished to see me, Hokage-sama?" asked Signum.

"We had some visitors earlier. Two girls and a young boy, both with higher than normal chakra signatures. Izumo, if you would?"

Izumo brought out the photos taken by the hidden cameras in the guard booth. Signum paled.

"I take it you know them?"

"They are members of the Time Space Administration Bureau. The same ones we have been trying to avoid for some time."

"I see."

"They may attempt to stop us from completing the book," said Signum.

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed.

"I will not allow that. If what you say is true, then that blasted thing needs to be completed before it infringes further on Naruko's health," said Sarutobi.

"Hunting nuke-nin has helped considerably, since no one has tried to prevent us from doing so, however our attacks on mages have drawn some unwanted attention. As it stands, we still have two hundred pages to fill before it's complete."

"I may have another suggestion for that..." said Sarutobi.

Signum went from cell to cell of the Interrogation department and drained the chakra memories of the prisoners in there. Thankfully the book tended to skip over duplicate admissions, which meant they only recorded jutsu that haven't been added before. Still, it was slow going.

She only got fifty pages from the T and I prisoners because there were quite a few double entries. Her visit to the land of Fire shinobi prison added thirty more.

With only a hundred and twenty pages left to fill, the time was drawing close before Naruko took on the full mantle as the master of the Book of Darkness.

* * *

Two weeks passed, and the trio returned...only this time there were two others with them. One was a woman with lime green hair, and the other was a boy wearing what was clearly a military uniform.

"Welcome back. The Hokage is currently in the village at the moment. I hope you don't mind but he said that we had to get some ANBU to escort you to there," said Izumo calmly. Better not to cause a panic, especially after word had spread that the affliction Naruko had was now much worse. Most of her upper body had been paralyzed now.

Unlike half the village, Izumo and Kotetsu liked Naruko, because she was always worth a good laugh.

"That's fine," said the older woman. Five ANBU appeared and lead them straight to the Hokage tower.

"So, you are the TSAB. Signum has told us about you and your organization," said Sarutobi.

Chrono stiffened. He wasn't expecting the village leader to be on speaking terms with one of the knights. He clearly knew who the master was then.

"I wish this meeting could have come under better terms," said Lindy, hiding her surprise well.

"What are your intentions towards Signum and the others?" asked Sarutobi bluntly.

"To be fair, we just need to stop them from completing the book. Every time it's been filled completely, the book goes berserk and causes widespread damage and even death. If possible, we would like to either fix the problem, or destroy it so it won't harm others again. The fact they have yet to kill anyone while draining them is a point in their favor."

"I see. There is one small issue with that request. The one who actually _owns_ this book and lives with the Knights is currently in the hospital and bedridden from it's effects. Recently it has grown so bad that she cannot move her body below the heart."

Lindy looked suitably alarmed.

"Is it possible for us to look at her? We might be able to hit two birds with one stone if we do."

"Only if you allow some of my trusted men and at least one of the Knights to go with you. They're the only family she has," said Sarutobi.

Her condition was very critical. So much so in fact, that he was willing to give these people a chance. Nothing they had done (or even the Kyuubi inside of her for that matter) had effected her condition.


	11. Naru Shihouin Chapter One

It all started, and ended, when Yoruichi ended up pregnant by her old time friend Urahara. The child born was blond with blue eyes, and as time grew on, just as intelligent as his father. It was during the hundred and fifty years of being in hiding, and in order to protect their son from being discovered by the Soul Society, they gave him to a family friend and acted as his surrogate aunt and uncle.

His name was Minato.

The day Minato and his wife Kushina died, Yoruichi thought her heart would break. They had given Kushina a sword as a wedding present, and they had been among the first to hear she was pregnant with their first child.

Kisuke had been there when Minato 'summoned' the Shinigami to help him seal the demon fox into the child. Minato would never know that the 'death god' he summoned was actually a forced manifestation of his own zanpakuto, and that it was the effort of releasing his spirit energy that killed him, not the sealing. They had planned to unseal his spirit power before the child was born, but the Soul Society heard that they were in the area.

He had stayed behind while Yoruichi drew the team sent to investigate far away into the Land of Water.

He went with the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, to see what he would do to calm the populace.

"Hokage-sama!"

Urahara sat behind the old Hokage and listened to the council bicker and scream. It was a miracle the old man wasn't deaf.

"Enough! The Kyuubi has been dealt with!"

"But what happened to it?" demanded a shrill woman named Haruno.

"Minato sealed him into a newborn."

Behind him, Kisuke face palmed. It wouldn't be difficult at all for the people to figure out which newborn. Hearing the council debate on how to kill a child who had only just been born made him sick. It was like dealing with the Central 46 all over again. He left the room quietly, and went to find his grandson.

The second he saw what was about to happen, he drew Benihime and killed the woman. She was about to smother Naruto!

Kisuke picked up his grandson and left a note.

_'You need to learn mob mentality better, Hiruzen. You should never have let it slip that the Kyuubi had been sealed in a child. We are reclaiming the boy.'_

Kisuke left into the night, and by the time Kakashi came in to check on his teacher's son, they were gone.

* * *

_Time Skip 7 Years..._

"Are you sure you want to do this Naruto?" asked Kisuke. Behind him was Yoruichi.

"Yeah! I want to be like Grandma!" said Naruto.

Yoruichi held back a laugh. They had told Naruto exactly who they were when he was old enough to understand. They told him stories of his birth parents to put him to sleep. And before they could let him learn Kido or Shun Po, he needed to learn the basics.

So he wanted to be a shinobi. The only catch was that he might be recognized as the Kyuubi container and taken from them. But they had a plan for that.

Yoruichi would go in disguised as his nin animal. It wasn't that unusual to find one that talked, though she wouldn't be able to transform in public.

"Alright. You have everything you plan to take with you?" asked Kisuke with a chuckle. It was a pity he couldn't send Ururu or Jinta with him, but they were still little.

Naruto proudly held up all the things in his new book bag. He had his writing equipment, his books, his lunch and a note for the old Hokage. He also had his short practice sword that Kisuke had made for him. He couldn't wait to learn kenjutsu!

* * *

Sarutobi looked up when he heard there was a boy wishing to enter the Academy, even though he lived outside Konoha.

"Come in," yelled Sarutobi.

In came a man of indeterminate age (he could easily be thirty to sixty) and a young boy with a nin animal around his shoulder. A black cat to be precise.

"Hello Mr...?"

"Kisuke Urahara. This is my adorable grandson Naru-kun," said Kisuke.

In order to keep the populace from figuring out Naruto's identity too quickly, he would go around as Naru. Besides, it made sure people didn't call him 'Fishcake' instead of 'Maelstrom'.

But Sarutobi wasn't looking at Urahara, he was looking at Naru. A boy who looked like a young Minato only with fox whiskers on his face.

"Exactly who are you and why shouldn't I have you arrested?"

"You don't know much about people do you, Hokage? You were foolish enough to inform the council that the Nine-tailed Fox was sealed in a newborn, and it would not have been difficult to figure out which one. I reclaimed my grandson before your foolishness got Naruto killed."

"Minato's parents died years ago."

"His foster parents died. We had to give him to family friends just to keep him safe from people who were trying to kill us."

"Who was trying to kill you?"

"Tell me, Hiruzen Sarutobi...have you ever heard of the Court of Pure Souls?"

Urahara paused, then looked at Naruto.

"Naru-chan, why don't you go to that park we passed and play while I have a chat with the Hokage? You can take Yoruichi with you," said Kisuke.

"Okay Grandpa!"

Naruto bounded out of the office, since it was probably going to be a really boring meeting anyway.

* * *

Naruto's first stop was to a small ramen stand. It was called Ichiraku's.

"_Naruto, you already had lunch,"_ Yoruichi chided him.

"Yeah, but that ramen smells awesome!"

"_Alright, but no ramen for dinner."_

"Whoohoo! Hey ramen guy, can I get a large Miso ramen?" yelled Naruto happily. All he ever got was instant ramen, and while it was good it would never beat actual ramen.

Teuchi Ichiraku started making the request, but before he put it on the counter did did a five-second double take at the customer.

The kid looked exactly like the Fourth Hokage at that age, only with whisker marks and a cat on his shoulder. Well, that an obscene amount of orange and what was clearly a practice sword on his back.

He put it on the counter and waited a moment before asking the kid's name.

"I'm Naru Shihouin! I'm going to be a ninja, if Gramps can get off his lazy bum and convince the old guy in the funny hat!" said Naruto grinning.

"_Naru, eat with your mouth closed. And don't insult the village leader,"_ chided Yoruichi.

Teuchi wasn't the only one staring at the cat.

"Kid, where the hell did you find a talking ninja cat?" asked one of the jounin next to him.

"Grandpa got her for me! Her name is Yoruichi!" said Naruto, making sure to finish what he had in his mouth before speaking.

"Why does a female cat sound like a guy?" asked another.

"_It's an old prank I like to play. Besides, it makes people see underneath the underneath,"_ said Yoruichi. Many of the shinobi eating there nodded wisely in agreement.

"So where are you from Naru-kun?" asked Teuchi. He was almost positive this was Minato's son.

"I live outside the village with my grandparents. Grandpa was around when the Nine-tailed Fox attacked, and when he found out that my parents were killed by it he walked right into the hospital and took me home. It was my idea to become a ninja, and Grandpa said that if I was going to be a shinobi then I might as well follow in the path of my dad and mom," said Naruto.

"Who were your parents?" asked one of the jounin, a guy with silver hair and a mask.

"Um, Gramps said I wasn't allowed to talk about dad but my mom's name was Kushina."

"You don't look like the Bloody Habenaro," said one.

"Blonds tend to run in the family," said Naruto cryptically.

"_So does being a complete pain in the ass,"_ said Yoruichi.

That got a chuckle from most of the ninja there, as Naruto paid for his ramen and went to play at the local park.

* * *

Urahara came for Naruto and Yoruichi two hours later, half an hour of which had been spent at the ramen stand. Naruto had been instantly addicted to the food.

"Naru-kun! Yoruichi!" he called out. Five minutes later a blond mop of hair appeared with a tired cat on his shoulder.

"_I swear this kid is a ball of energy..."_ said Yoruichi exhausted.

"Good news Naru-chan! He's agreed to let you attend the Academy next week, so long as you don't tell anyone about your father."

"I remember Grandpa! Dad had a lot of enemies, so it's a bad idea to let them know who I am!" said Naruto brightly.

"Anyway, you're still going to live with me, but we need to make a pit stop by the Hospital to get your standard vaccinations done."

"But don't I heal fast anyway?"

"You know it and I know it, but all students get the vaccinations. If you don't make a fuss we'll get ramen on the way home."

"Yay! I found this awesome stand that makes good ramen!"

"Figures you would find Ichiraku's. We'll go by the hospital first and get ramen after. But first..." said Urahara, grinning. He picked up Naruto and put him around his neck. The seven-year-old cheered, and Yoruichi jumped onto Urahara's bucket hat.

Sarutobi looked at the test results in his hands. This would either make or break Kisuke Urahara's guardianship of Naruto. His breath caught in his throat.

A quarter of the markers matched Naruto's perfectly, meaning they were related closely. Not so close to be father and son, but close enough to be a relative like a grandparent. And he knew Kushina's parents were dead.

Which meant that he had been telling the truth about being Minato's father. He could only wonder if Minato had known before he had died.

"Hey old man, you look like hell," said a familiar voice.

"How ironic you would choose _now_ to show up Jiraiya."

"What's up?"

"Naruto came back to the village...and he was accompanied by someone I thought was already dead."

"Urahara finally showed up? Did he have a black cat with him, or a dark skinned woman with cat-like eyes?"

"Naruto had a black cat... Wait a moment, you already knew this whole time Minato's parents were alive?"

"Of course I knew! Kisuke came clean the day after Minato became Hokage. Said that he was finally sure that Minato could handle anyone who came after him for being his son. You never saw such a beating... Besides, Kisuke has been sending me updates on Naruto. The kid's more like his mother than Minato, according to Kisuke."

"Why didn't you tell me?! Do you have any idea how upset I was when I heard that the nurse had been killed by a blade and Naruto was gone?!"

"Because you were dumb enough to tell _civilians _and_ shinobi_ who had just lost members of their family to a demonic creature sealed in a helpless infant where to direct their anger. Kisuke killed her because the nurse was about to smother Naruto, and he didn't trust the people of the village not to treat the kid the way Minato wanted without seeing the Fox instead. Especially since he knew damn well you weren't about to let it out that he was Minato's kid, heritage be damned."

"It was too dangerous to tell him his heritage. Not with how Iwa took the news that he became Hokage..."

"Yeah, yeah. In any event old man, at least you know Naruto would grow up in a loving family and not someone who wanted to use him. Besides, if I know his grandmother, he'll become a mini-Minato anyway."

"What?"

"You really think Minato got that good at handling high speeds and killing people because he's a genius? It was in his blood from the start. His mother was called the Flash Mistress, because she specialized in high speed attacks and assassinations."

"Does he know..."

"They told him everything about his parents already. He knows not to talk about his father until he's either chunin or he's mastered his grandmother's combat style."

* * *

"Everyone, I want you to welcome a new student. Come in please," said the teacher.

The blond came in with a roll, and slid his foot into a stance none of the students recognized.

"S'up! Name's Naru Shihouin! I love ramen! And this is my ninja partner Yoru!" said Naruto with a grin. Yoruichi meowed. The teacher coughed.

"Yes, well... take any seat you want."

Naruto saluted him...and fell flat on his face. The entire class laughed their ass off. Naruto bounced right back up and gave them a thumbs up before sitting next to a girl with pale lavender eyes.

Step one: establish himself as harmless...complete. Step two: locate people who had a high chance of becoming genin and become friends with them.

Urahara had been quite specific...avoid the fan clubs. Minato had to deal with them for years, and most of them never became shinobi later anyway. Or if they did, they were stuck as genin for the rest of their lives.

So he should stick to people from shinobi clans.

Naruto immediately located some of the major clans within minutes of recess, and planned on who to approach and when.

So far there was a Hyuuga, an Uchiha, a Nara, an Akimichi, a Yamanaka, an Aburame, and an Inuzuka in his class. The rest were from civilian backgrounds, so it was unlikely they would make it to genin.

So he approached the Nara first, since befriending him would make it easier to get to know the Yamanaka and Akimichi.

* * *

"How was school Naruto?" asked Kisuke.

"Fun, but kinda boring. I made a friend though! His name is Shikamaru and he likes to watch clouds!"

"A Nara, huh?"

Urahara immediately said that he could bring Shikamaru and Chouji over for a sleepover, provided their parents agreed to it.

They did, once the Hokage told them who Urahara actually was. Besides, it was a chance for their sons to make a friend outside the clans.


	12. Shinobi of the Night Sky Chapter Three

Naruko, when she reached the TSAB ship, was immediately carried to the infirmary. Her condition was critical.

Kakashi, Zafira and Vita all went with her to the room, and stayed out of the way. Signum had allowed it under the same conditions the Hokage had, mostly because if the book wasn't completed soon Naruko could likely die.

The Book of Darkness (Tome of the Night Sky) was being examined while the doctors tried to alleviate even a small bit of Naruko's condition. Signum was currently talking to Chrono during this time.

"What's her condition?" asked Kakashi once the scan was over.

"The book appears to have bound over fifty percent of her body. It's a miracle she's lasted this long."

"_I think you all should come see this,"_ said Mary, who had just finished her scan of the Book of Darkness.

* * *

"The Book of Darkness, formerly the Tome of the Night Sky, is dangerously broken. The Defense and Reincarnation programs appear to have infected most of the book, resulting in the dangerous levels of draining from the master. If it had been completed in this state, it would have killed her within hours of finishing it."

"WHAT?! But completing it should have saved her!" said Vita.

"I'm afraid not. There's also the issue of three Knights having been added within the last year. If it had been completed, then they would have been erased by the next master."

"Three Knights? But there have always been four!" said Vita in shock.

"They were added during the initial awakening. According to this, their spells were added alongside the limited amount given to each master," said Mary.

"What can we do to fix the book?" asked Kakashi.

"We need Naruko-san awake long enough to activate Administer Rights so we can replace the corrupt programs. Then, once the book is filled the damage should reverse itself fairly quickly."

"The only problem is that Naruko hasn't been awake for over a day because of pain," said Kakashi.

* * *

Naruko did finally awake three days later, when the pain had subsided to reasonable levels (for her).

"What... what do I...need...to do?" she gasped.

"We need you to stay awake long enough to activate Administer Rights. Once the programs are replaced, the pain will stop," explained Lindy.

"Take me...to...the book," said Naruko. She wanted this over with!

"Activate...Administer Rights..." said Naruko. She was trying to hold back tears from the pain of sitting up.

_**(Administer Rights Active.)**_

"Replace...Defense and...Reincarnation...programs...with new...systems."

_**(Replacing programs with new systems. Replacement complete.)**_

"Register new...name."

_**(Name Registry now open.)**_

"Blessed...Wind...Reinforce,"said Naruko, before passing out.

_**(Blessed Wind Reinforce, now registered name. Please call me that from now on.)**_

The book stopped floating on it's own and fell back into the cradle Mary had it in.

Naruko was rushed back to the infirmary, where she stayed for two days before she could wake up. When she replaced the reincarnation program, she also halted the corrupt file that had been slowly killing her.

"How many pages are left?" asked Signum later.

"Only fifty," said Chrono.

"What of the two that stole Testarossa's linker core?" asked Signum. She was still furious about that, because she hadn't wanted it that way.

"We have a lead on those two. If you help us, we can arrest them and put an end to this."

"We'll help. Those two had no right to butt into our fights," said Signum with a growl.

* * *

A week later (the binding on Naruko had started to reverse faster than most would have guessed, aside from Kakashi) Signum and the others were laying a trap for the two men who had interfered on the desert planet.

Naruko was nearby, because she didn't want to be left out again. The pain had subsided enough for her to sit up in a wheelchair now.

She wanted to see this through to the end.

She was about to wheel closer to the fence when she sensed someone behind her.

"So you are the little Master of the book," said a male voice.

The hairs on the back of her neck went up.

"I wonder how the Knights will react with you hostage?" asked another.

"No! Let me go!" cried Naruko, as the first one pulled her out of the chair.

"NARUKO!" screamed Vita.

_**(Master. I can load the other Knights, if you like.)**_ came the telepathic voice of Reinforce.

"LOAD KNIGHT PROGRAM! RELEASE!"

_**(Knight Program Release initiated. Now Awakening Knights.)**_

The twin men who held her hostage were in shock. They had thought that all the Knights were released already...then again Zafira had never actually shown up in any of the battles. Not directly anyway.

The magical circle of Reinforce formed under Naruko. It became a bloody red color as three figures formed around her.

"_We are the Wolkenritter who serve the master of the Tome of the Night Sky,"_ said the female who had bright red hair down to her backside. She had two hair pins on each side of her face that framed her features. Her outfit looked remarkably like an ANBU uniform, only her mask was a fox.

"We shall protect and serve the master of the Tome, even if it costs us our life," said the male. His hair was the same shade as Naruko's, only it was spiky and he had side burns. On his back was a long cloak with flames along the bottom. He had a mask as well, only his was a toad.

"_**Our life is bound to our Master, and our souls shall leave with hers,"**_said the third figure, who appeared to be a Guardian Beast like Zafira, only he had fox features rather than a wolf. He had no mask, but he did have nine long red tails like flame.

"_**We are the Guardian Knights of our Master, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruko!"**_ the three intoned as one.

"Impossible! There are only supposed to be four Knights!" said the first man.

"Where did they come from?!" said the other.

"Are you hurt, Naruko-chan?" asked the woman.

"Who...who are you? You seem really familiar..." asked Naruko. The woman helped her back into the wheelchair while the other two Knights looked at the 'men' with a glare.

"We'll explain that once this is over with. Right now we have to deal with these fools," said the woman gently.

"Who are you three?" asked Signum. The fact they had saved Naruko and had the same energy as them was the only reason that she hadn't attacked them on sight.

"We are like you, only we were absorbed the same time Naruko awakened as master," said the woman.

"We couldn't come out until the defense program was fixed and Naruko released the Knight program," said the blonde man.

"Where did you come from?" asked Shamal. The new Guardian beast was keeping the fakes very busy.

"We came from the seal that is on Naruko's stomach. It had a rather...interesting reaction to a safety feature than had been left on it. As a result, all three of us were given a second chance...including fuzzy over there," said the blonde man.

"_**CALL ME FUZZY AGAIN AND I SWEAR TO KAMI-SAMA I AM EATING YOU!**_" snarled the fox familiar.

"And risk being stuck in that seal again for who knows how long?" laughed the man.

The fox growled at him, clearly ticked off about something.

Eventually Chrono caught them, putting an end to the fox's fun. Still, the other knights didn't know what to think of the newest additions to their forces.

* * *

Kakashi's heart nearly skipped several beats when he saw the Toad and Fox masks. Their forms were far too familiar for it to be coincidence.

"Now, who are you three?" said Chrono.

Kakashi watched with baited breath as they removed their masks. The Guardian Beast beside them switched to his animal form, which nearly gave Kakashi a heart attack.

"Sensei...!" said Kakashi in shock.

"Sensei?" said Naruko.

"My name...is Minato Namikaze," said the blonde man. His eyes and hair were hauntingly familiar...because they were the same as Naruko's.

"I am Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze," said the woman. Her face was similar in many ways to Naruko.

"And you can call me the Kyuubi no Youko," said the fox. He looked like a smaller version of his full sized self.

"Where did you come from, exactly?" asked Signum.

"We came from the seal on Naruko's stomach. Originally we left chakra ghosts of ourselves in case Naruko ever released Fuzzy over here past eight-tails, but when the book absorbed her linker core when she awoke, it also absorbed us into the Knight Program."

"_**You do realize if I hadn't allowed it to happen in the first place, we would all be stuck in that damn seal,"**_ said the fox.

"Yes, but by doing so you allowed that blasted ailment to progress farther than it could have!" growled Kushina.

"Wait! You're the reason why Naruko suffered for months?!" growled Vita.

"_**Considering the other option was to fight it and lose any chance for her to have her parents back? Which do you think she would have chosen?"**_ said Kyuubi snarkily.

Kakashi had long since falled to his knees at this point. He knew this would be hell to write in a report...

Naruko was in so much shock that her parents were now her Knights that she passed out.

* * *

"So if I want to access the full power of the book then I have to complete it?" asked Naruko.

"There are several options. One is to use the moon of your world, which according to Kyuubi-san has some sort of demon sealed away in it. Another is to reseal the original four knights, which was how several previous owners completed it. Or you could continue hunting down criminals in your world which Signum has been doing," said Chrono.

"It surprised me that her village leader had such a simple solution no one could really complain about," said Signum.

It had surprised the TSAB as well. Aside from a few cases like Nanoha, Fate and a few other agents, the Knights had actually left the mages alone for the most part. That meant the number of crimes against them wasn't as large as it could have been.

"You could always go after S-ranked shinobi," said Minato.

When Signum managed to take Itachi's chakra, she had filled over twenty pages in a single hit.

"Or the kekkei genkai users, but that would be a little mean," said Kushina.

"Well there is a third option. The book was originally made to catalog things, right?" said Naruko.

"Yes. The original function was to catalog and preserve magic, before one of the previous masters altered the programs, which resulted in this mess."

"Well then can't I continue training to be a shinobi and catalog it later?"

"Your magic power will be drastically reduced, and you'll only be able to use a fraction of the spells at a time until it's complete. But you can begin mage training without finishing it," said Mary.

"Well, it's not like there's any real rush to complete it," admitted Signum.

Now that the program that had been harming Naruko was gone, there was no reason to rush it's completion.

* * *

"Welcome ba...Naruko! You're awake!" said Kotetsu.

"Hey, Kotetsu, Izumo!" said Naruko. Signum was pushing her wheelchair this time.

For the moment, the three Knights Minato, Kushina and Kyuubi were in the Arthra getting used to magic rather than chakra.

"Welcome back Naruko, Signum."

"The situation has been resolved, Hokage-sama. Naruko will be on the path to recovery and will be able to rejoin the Academy withing a month or two," said Shamal.

The look of relief on the Hokage's face was obvious.

"Ne, Jiji, how come you never told me I had the Nine-Tails in me?" pouted Naruko.

Sarutobi choked on his drink.

"Naruko, who told you?" he asked in return.

"Fuzzy did," said Naruko bluntly.

"Fuzzy?" said Sarutobi wincing.

"OW! Shut up already! Fine, he said his name is Riku-something and that he's got a few things he would like to say the councils...specifically whatever idiots keep insisting I'm him," said Naruko, wincing at the volume level.

"You can talk to him now?" said the Hokage blankly. This was a bit early...

"According to the three new Knights that I had to unseal, the 'seal had a rather odd reaction to the books power, resulting in a faster than normal draining rate'," she said.

"Can I get someone in here to explain, please?" he asked with a whine.

"I'll get the new guy to tell you...let's just say his appearance will both answer a lot of questions as much as raise them," said Signum. This was going to be fun.

In the meantime, Naruko was taken home for the first time in nearly three months. It had been a long time since she could lay in her own bed. She grabbed her favorite pillow (shaped like a fishcake, which was a joke gift from the Ichiraku's for her birthday seeing as how her name was one letter away from being called 'Naruto'.) and immediately fell sound asleep.

And landed right inside her seal. Because of the book, the two had met up much earlier than expected.

Which meant she planned to get some training done.

"_**Dammit brat, what have I said about calling me Fuzzy?!"**_

Naruko stuck her tongue out at the Fox. Most of his power was still bound behind the seal, but he could at least walk around now without setting it off.

Both of her parents were set free thanks to the Knight system, which meant the bars were much weaker.

However, in order to get any real power from his true self, the Nine-Tails had to work with Naruko, seeing as she was the one who could regulate the power in his 'familiar' form.

"_**Gaki, if you have to call me something, call me Rikudo Kurama,"**_ growled the fox.

"That's too long! Can't I just call you Riku? That way people won't know your real name!"

"_**I can live with Riku. But if you call me Fuzzy one more time..."**_

Naruko giggled.

"So how do I change this place again? No offense, but sewers aren't really nice to be in," said Naruko.

As Riku walked her through the steps, her mindscape slowly started to change.

First the pipes vanished and became giant streams of water. Then the bars changed to become a collar and armor around the Fox's neck. Soon the change became much faster as the walls became trees and flowers, her memories became stars in the sky, her emotions the sky itself, and her core the sun.

Riku sat down in the field of flowers with a sigh of bliss.

"_**Much better. At least now I can stretch around here,"**_ he said with a grin.

Naruko was tired from the work, so she curled up beside the giant fox and fell asleep. He covered her with one of his tails and took a nap himself.


	13. Twin Fangs of Heaven and Earth 1

It all began with the kidnapping of the Kyuubi jinchuriki. It was after a particularly bad day at the Academy, in which he finally unlocked his chakra for the first time and nearly blew out the windows by accident. He was so tired that he fell sound asleep on his crappy apartment bed without once checking for traps.

He woke up in the middle of nowhere with a single scroll and a note.

_'To the Uzumaki Princeling (and by that I mean you, blondie)_

_Since I am sick and tired of seeing your life turn out like crap because of a village that doesn't appreciate your natural greatness, I am leaving you to someone who could bring out your natural abilities. He is someone who won't treat you like you're a demon. He is a former member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, so he will know how to train you...hopefully._

_Before you panic about being away from Konoha, relax. You'll head back in a few years anyway. They deserve to stew for a while and you deserve to live away from a village that kisses the ground the Noble clans walk on and think they piss rose water. _

_And, since I'm not going to leave you here without _some_ advantage to rub in those arrogant Uchiha and Hyuga's faces, I give you this. This is the instruction notes and facts about an A-rank Kinjutsu normally only allowed to jounin due to chakra requirements. It's called the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and I know you'll put it to good use._

_When you get far enough in kenjutsu, or the art of the sword, you'll get my second gift. One is for you, the other is for Haku, so choose wisely._

_Have fun and get strong enough to make them see what a valuable shinobi they nearly lost! _

_Love, Hikari no Kami.'_

Naruto reread the letter three times, not making much sense of the note.

Finally, he figured out what it was saying.

Someone had taken him away from Konoha as a prank and sent him somewhere where he could rub it in the faces of all those jerks who mocked him because he had no parents or clan. They were giving him to someone who really knew their stuff who already had an apprentice, and if he got good enough with the sword, then he would get an awesome weapon to use later. Plus they were even letting him have a kinjutsu that only high ranking ninja were allowed to have!

He would have been upset about the fact he was forced to leave Konoha, but according to the note, he would go back in a few years once he trained up enough anyway and rub it in the faces of everyone else.

Especially those Hyuga and Uchiha. Those guys were real jerks!

The next day Naruto heard someone coming around to his little clearing.

A man with a _massive_ freaking sword that by all rights shouldn't belong to ninja unless it did something really awesome and a kid who dressed in a yakuta were walking along the road. He didn't know whether or not these were the people he was waiting for until the man called out.

"Brat, I know you're there, so show yourself!"

His younger companion looked at him oddly before he looked around.

Naruto stayed put, like a good little shinobi unsure of a situation.

"I ain't got all day, and I'm not about to look for you."

Naruto came out of the bushes, with his scroll in his pocket and the note.

The younger boy looked at him in surprise, unaware he was even there.

"So you're the brat I'm supposed to train. What's your name kid?"

"Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki," he said defiantly.

And that was the start of a rather unusual apprenticeship. One that would resonate in the years to come.

* * *

_Naruto, age 10, Haku age 12_

Naruto rather liked being around Zabuza and Haku. Or as he liked to call him Zabuza-sensei and Nii-san. Zabuza apparently got a similar note from the by now infamous Hikari no Kami, or the God of Light.

His had said that he would get a very powerful and interesting apprentice who would lead him to a pair of legendary swords called the Fangs of Heaven and Earth.

The swords Tensaiga and Tetsusaiga. They were originally part of a trio, which were called the swords of the conquering king. The third sword, the Fang of Hell, was sealed permanently in a place humans couldn't go.

In order to be granted the knowledge of where the Fangs were, Zabuza had to teach the blond child Naruto the way of the sword. Something the kid took up with gusto.

Zabuza nearly had a heart attack the first time Naruto got the Shadow Clone down. He thought he had been imagining things when he kept running into the kid one morning...only to hear a laughing Naruto and snickering Haku tell him that Naruto had finally learned the shadow clone.

Ever since then Zabuza had been working the kid to the bone, rarely giving them a day off.

Today was the day that Naruto had a vision of a pair of swords. One was larger than the other, and the second one looked like it had been around for a while.

Naruto told Zabuza, who recognized some of the landmarks...particularly the lake Naruto had seen.

"We're heading back into Water. Prepare for travel, Haku, Naruto."

"Hai sensei!" said the two.

Naruto and Haku were practically brothers, with Haku keeping the more energetic Naruto in line from time to time...though Naruto was the one who got Haku to laugh the most, often playing minor pranks on Zabuza...like the time with the food coloring.

He hadn't been happy to find out his masks had all suddenly become pink.

* * *

A week later, Zabuza was in the mountain ranges Naruto had seen in his vision. Suddenly the blond tripped on a rock he hadn't seen, and crashed onto the rocky floor. He scraped his hand a little but said nothing.

Without warning, lights filled the cavern they had just entered. In the center was a large number of gold, scrolls and a pair of old swords.

One looked like it tapered off nearly the end and had a light wrap around the hilt. It looked more like a broadsword than anything else. The other looked like it should have been retired years ago, with the wrapping on the hilt falling apart and the sheath all but worn out.

When Naruto pulled out the older one, the metal looked like someone who didn't know a thing about swords or their upkeep had owned it before, because the edges were so chipped it couldn't possibly be used for anything other than to bludgeon someone.

However the older one had a feeling of power that the other didn't. Like it was waiting for a certain condition to be met before it could release it's true nature.

"Tensaiga and Tetsusaiga. The Fangs of Heaven and Earth. I never thought I would ever lay eyes on them, even once. They're supposed to be the original concept behind the Seven Swordsmen."

"What's so special about them?" asked Naruto. He rather liked the older sword, while Haku tested the other one, which was in much better condition.

"Tensaiga, the Fang of Heaven, was unique in that it couldn't kill if swung. It's purpose was the exact opposite of normal swords, and legend has it that it could bring the dead back to life. Tetsusaiga, the Fang of Earth, was said to have four distinct powers. Wind Scars, Backlash Wave, Barrier breaker and Adamantium Blast."

"What the hell is adamantium?" asked Naruto.

Zabuza didn't mind answering his questions, so long as they weren't so stupid that they required Haku to slap his younger brother upside the head.

"Adamantium is one of the main metals used to create chakra conductive ninja gear, like swords, shuriken and senbon. It's also one of the few metals that can stand up to the abuse fire and lighting chakra normally have on weapons."

"So basically...it can shoot chakra-laced kunai at people?"

"Among other things."

"SUGOI!"

Zabuza and the others raided the cave, sealing everything in the scrolls Naruto had a habit of carrying with him. Ever since they had a run-in with Jiraiya of the Sannin (Zabuza got all of his porn signed, to his delight), Naruto had been learning sealing along with how to use a sword.

Originally the Toad Sage planned to take Naruto back to Konoha, Zabuza be damned, but then Naruto accidentally let it slip that he often had to avoid drunken mobs on his birthday of all days. And the trouble he had simply buying food before he was kidnapped.

Jiraiya was ticked, but he left Naruto with Zabuza so he could get the full scope of how bad it was in Konoha.

People still talked about the spike of KI that was felt for no apparent reason that came from the Hokage's office.

The next time they ran into Jiraiya, he told them that he was in fact Naruto's godfather. Since the boy was clearly thriving with the missing nin more than he would have in his own village, Jiraiya never told the Hokage where the boy was.

Instead he left little scrolls and tips on how to further his training. And made sure to have the next copy of _Icha Icha_ for Zabuza, free of charge.

(Needless to say Zabuza was really glad he took the chance to take on the kid. He got to meet Jiraiya, free copies of _Icha Icha_, and he had an apprentice who could spam Shadow Clones like they were going out of style! Oh, and he would be able to lay his eyes on the legendary Fangs.)

The other time they had a bit of a problem was when Zabuza ran into Tsunade and her assistant...and she immediately recognized Naruto as a Konoha citizen.

At least she let him explain why he was traveling with the Demon of the Mist before she judged him about it. On the plus side, Haku got some more medic nin training from someone who knew what they were doing and a few scrolls he could borrow until they saw each other again.

Which they did...almost every time they went to a town that had a casino...Zabuza then had Haku teach Naruto poker...and ever since the last time they saw Tsunade, Shizune and Tonton they had been banned from two different casinos because Naruto bankrupted them and split the cash between his group and Tsunade.

Needless to say the Sannin was feeling rather charitable towards her fellow blond. So much so that when he bet against her she gave him her old necklace.

* * *

Once they were out of the cave, Zabuza took them to Wave country. He had heard through Jiraiya that the fourth Mizukage, his old friend Yagura, was missing.

"So when do we deal with those idiots the Demon Brothers?" asked Naruto. He did not like them. At ALL.

They had made one too many comments on his Oiroke jutsu (made after Zabuza got him so drunk that he did a henge without thinking to avoid Haku and later used to prank Zabuza extensively) that he had sworn eternal vengeance. They also operated on the mistaken belief Haku was female and kept making unwanted advances on the boy.

Hence the reason why Naruto and Haku had sworn eternal vengeance and planned to use them as cannon fodder. Sadly Zabuza supported this idea, since he hated having them around as much as his apprentices did.

Naruto shifted his mask. It was a stylized fox that Zabuza had found at a carnival that could easily be mistaken for one of the Konoha ANBU elite. Zabuza had given him when he finally reached the same level as Haku when it came to sneaking up on people. The irony was that even though Naruto was the loudest of the three, he was still better at sneaking into places than the other two.

It didn't help that Zabuza and Haku had tag teamed against his orange monstrosities and made him wear something more appropriate.

Since he was originally from Konoha, Zabuza had gotten him an ANBU uniform modified for his size. All that was missing was the tattoo, which Naruto had decided against. Instead he opted to put the headband Jiraiya had gotten him from Konoha's armory around where the tattoo normally would be.

While the kid wasn't trained there, he was still a Konoha citizen. The fact that he knew enough of the landmarks only made the ruse better. And it kept Zabuza from killing one to get their headband.

(Jiraiya was also the one who supplied the small ANBU costume, since he had seen enough of the kid's skills to qualify him as one of the elite shinobi. Plus it helped keep him alive.)

Zabuza had recently taken on a job by a rather disgusting little man named Gato. Four years after they found the twin Fangs, Naruto had come a long way to mastering Tetsusaiga. He could use the Wind Scar, Backlash Wave and Barrier Breaker (which he had mastered thanks in part to Haku's ice barrier), but the Adamantium was still out of reach for now. He had learned the hard way that his sword wasn't as light as he expected when activated through youki.

It was as heavy as Zabuza's Kubikiri Houcho. At least it no longer looked like a piece of junk. They had managed to find someone experienced with special swords who fixed up the blade and rewrapped the hilt. He even found a sheathe similar to the original to fit.

Though it had cost them half the gold they found in the cave. At least now Naruto could use his sword like a normal katana without activating it.

Normally Naruto wouldn't mind working for others, since he was a shinobi after all. However Gato made his skin crawl. If the money wasn't so good, chances were that he would have asked Zabuza if he could kill the man.

His job today was to shadow the Demon Brothers and to see what sort of people Tazuna had managed to hire. The two exploded from the puddle, and he noted with amusement that the old man had managed to get a trio of Genin and only one shinobi worth noting.

The pink haired one shrieked, nearly making him fall from his perch. The one with the duck ass managed to pin the brothers, and the pasty faced one tied them up with some sort of weird ink jutsu.

Before the two idiots could do anything, the jounin reappeared. But apparently not before pinky got stabbed with poison. Dumb bint should have kept her mouth shut. Meizo probably stabbed her to save their hearing.

Something about the jounin bothered him, and then it clicked why.

It was the Inu masked ANBU. He was one of the many people who had kept the mobs off when he still lived in Konoha. So Kakashi Hatake had gotten stuck with a genin team? Not a very good one apparently.

He ran off to inform Zabuza of this news...and to stay behind. Kakashi was a former ANBU and he would know in a heartbeat that Naruto wasn't one.

* * *

Kakashi looked up and to the left. He could have sworn there was another chakra signature, one he hadn't felt in years now. But it vanished before he could locate it. Either way, he had to deal with Sakura first.

...He really must have pissed off a god in some life, because these three were the anti-teamwork trio.

Sakura was a fangirl who spent more time in the mirror than training, and she was on some sort of stupid diet which slowed her down even more. And if her crush even went against what the other boy said, then she would respond with violence and a harpy voice. The worst part was that her hair was pink, bright pink at that! She should have dyed it as soon as she became an official genin.

Sasuke was an avenger with a rather bad combination of an inferiority/superiority complex. All he concerned himself with was killing his older brother and learning jutsu he definitely wasn't ready for. He refused to even socialize with the others, and tended to react badly to Sakura's quite obvious advances. He was ten seconds away from murdering his other teammate in cold blood.

Sai was by far the worst. While he worked with the other two without a single complaint, the boy was a ROOT spy sent to keep an eye on the last Uchiha. He constantly made crass comments about Sakura's flat chest and Sasuke's shortcomings, inciting anger and violence from the other two. The only good thing was that the kid at least listened to orders and didn't back talk nearly as much as the others. Not to mention he was the strongest of the genin, which angered Sasuke and by extension Sakura to no end.

Out of the three, if Kakashi had to train only one he would pick Sai every time. At least _he_ knew what being a real shinobi was like.

Sasuke seemed to be the unofficial leader of their mismatched group, and the other two followed his ideas without much fuss. So when he decided to continue the mission, Kakashi allowed it, though he had a bad feeling about it.

* * *

"So Hatake Kakashi is guarding the old man. You made the right call Naruto. Haku, if I get in over my head, you're on return duty."

"Yes Zabuza-sensei."

Haku called his master sensei not long after Naruto got into the habit of it. Naruto had kept the boy from seeing himself as nothing more than a tool. Now it felt more like a family.


	14. Twin Fangs of Heaven and Earth 2

Naruto helped Zabuza after Haku removed the senbon. Apparently Kakashi wasn't on his game, since he didn't pick up the fact that Haku wasn't a Hunter within a few seconds of the boy removing the body. Naruto had stayed behind for a bit to insure they made a clean getaway.

"So what's my job? With a former ANBU nearby I can't do nearly as much as normal," said Naruto.

"You're on guard duty. I don't trust that midget as far as I can tolerate his presence."

"Can I at least scout the genin to get a better idea of how far along they are?" whined Naruto.

"Sure. Just don't blow your cover. Remember, they are from Konoha and they can tell you don't belong if you wear the headband."

"Yeah yeah. Hey wait, that means I can wear my favorite outfit!"

"Go for it. If they get a headache from seeing that damn outfit of yours, then it's their problem," said Zabuza.

* * *

Naruto walked around in his orange yakuta which he had gotten behind Haku's back (Haku made it a point to torch Naruto's orange outfits since it gave him migraines from looking at it too long) wearing a henge to hide a few features...like his whiskers.

Now he looked like a ten year old waif with missing teeth and a few battle scars. His hair had been henged to a sedate brown and his whiskers were so thin they were nonexistent. He also had his sword on him, because he never left the base without it. Combined with the threadbare sandals and he looked like a resident of Wave. Albeit one with a rather old sword that looked like it was about to fall apart, but still!

Naruto had transformation done to an art. And Zabuza had gotten wasted far too many times trying to figure out how the hell he landed two apprentices who could pass as females, bitchy females at that, so successfully that lesbians hit on them in the brothels and bars.

Naruto passed by Kakashi and did something that would have the man panicking, since he was a good foot from him.

He stole the man's copy of _Icha Icha_ that he had on hand. It was his little revenge for the fact he beat Zabuza.

He heard Kakashi's yell of anger from three blocks away and in a store with some samurai wannabes.

They took one look at the sword on his back and left him alone. All the samurai knew he was one of the apprentices of the Demon of the Mist.

He had already killed ten of them when Gato first hired his master just to prove that he wasn't afraid to do it.

The fact that the ten he killed had a tendency to rape young children never made it into the stories unless the people knew those he cut down personally.

Naruto bought some ink, some extra seeds (he had a hobby of gardening, and often grew the medical plants Haku used) and some new brushes. He would have to pick up sealing paper from the bounty office later. They always stocked supplies that the Hunter nin didn't feel like carrying from their kills. More than once Naruto had made a quick ryo selling the items one of his targets had on hand.

Missing nin had to get their supply of kunai _somewhere, _and Zabuza got his from the bounty offices...through Naruto and Haku of course.

Naruto was out of the store and passing Kakashi under a new henge (covering his distinctive orange yakuta and sword) and was past the Copy Ninja before the man figured out that it was a transformation.

None of the samurai were willing to enlighten him, seeing as they got a good laugh at the man attempting to find the book thief. Even more so when they learned it was the man's prized porn, which even samurai wannabes like them knew was nearly _impossible_ to steal off of Kakashi. It was even a note in the BINGO book entry for him.

* * *

_'You have got to be kidding me. At least now I know why they sucked so much. Thank you Hikari no Kami for taking me away from this...substandard...education!'_ thought Naruto.

Why did he say this you ask? Two of the three genin Kakashi had were just _now_ starting tree walking...and they sucked at it. The pink haired one was able to get to the top, but her reserves and skills were so pathetic it was an insult to shinobi everywhere.

The duck butt was even worse. He couldn't grasp such a simple concept and he was too proud to even consider asking for help. He kept overloading his chakra and blasting off the tree. The marks were just sad.

The third one was the only redeemable shinobi of the group. He at least could water walk and he didn't have a kunai lodged up his ass. He was quiet and spent his time constructively by reading what appeared to be a technique scroll.

If the other two were the best and brightest of the Konoha Academy, then Zabuza clearly wasn't overstating the fact that most tree huggers (nickname for Konoha nin) were weak.

He could kill these brats in their sleep, and they didn't look like they were worth his time at all.

* * *

"How did it go?"

"I take back any complaints about your methods and I will never ask you to tone down your idea of training again."

"That bad?"

"They couldn't even walk up trees! The only real shinobi of the group was the pasty drone! Hell the pink one could barely walk to the top without needing to take a break!"

Zabuza winced.

"So we have a fan girl, a zombie and an avenger. How the fuck did I get beaten by them?"

"Kakashi caught you off guard with his doujutsu," Naruto deadpanned.

"Are you sure you want to go back to the tree huggers?" complained Zabuza.

He knew the kid missed Konoha, and he was getting tired of dodging the Hunter nins after his ass. Hell, half the time they only went away because Naruto played a very convincing ANBU!

"But I do have something you can hang over the Copy idiot."

"What?"

"His porn. Walked right past him and nicked it before he had any clue, and then changed my henge three blocks away."

Zabuza _howled_. There was no other word for it. He loved it when the fox brat pulled one over others!

(Yes, he figured out the kid had the Kyuubi years ago. It just meant he could train him harder.)

* * *

Kakashi was irritable for three days straight. While he did have an extra _Icha Icha_ on him since he expected to finish the other one within a day or two, he still couldn't believe someone stole his precious porn!

His genin noted it, but said nothing. A pity, since he could claim he was training them if they spoke about why he was so cranky.

* * *

It had been nearly a week since Zabuza was taken out by Kakashi. Haku was out getting herbs when he ran into Sasuke. Apparently the idiot had been training so hard he forgot to take a break and collapsed.

He debated on whether to wake the kid or kill him. Instead he got his plants and moved on. The kid had this aura about him that just screamed 'Revenge will be MINE!'.

She just barely missed Sakura coming to check on the avenger.

Zabuza was twitchy. Gato had been acting slightly odd the closer he came to killing the bridge builder, and he didn't like it. Naruto suspected the fool aimed to stab them in the back.

If the money wasn't so good he would have had the kid kill the little bastard where he stood. Sadly Naruto wasn't sent on an assassination run since nothing screamed betrayal.

That didn't mean the kid hadn't already broken into the base and stolen all the papers as a safety measure anyway. If Gato did betray them and one of the three got away, all of his crimes would be sent to all the major villages before the week was out. If that didn't get a kill order on the midget, nothing would.

And Naruto was a master of the payback.

He was also on the underside of the bridge waiting for Zabuza to call on him. No true shinobi reveals his trump card unless he had to. And Kakashi would recognize he was a fake faster than he liked.

Hence why he was hiding.

"Zabuza...so I was right to assume you were still alive."

"Kakashi. How good of you to join us," smirked the swordsman. In his hand was...Kakashi's porn.

The silver haired nin twitched. He recognized his scent on the book, and what it meant. He really needed to start training seriously again, if some kid could swipe his porn and get away with it.

Zabuza was definitely amused by the irritation Kakashi was displaying so openly.

Kakashi looked at the boy beside the man. While he had a similar hair color, the scent was all wrong.

"Where's your third?" he asked.

The genin behind him were already tense. Finding out that Zabuza had more than one accomplice only made it worse.

"He'll come when I call him."

Zabuza started the battle, sending some water clones to surround the kids. The pale zombie one tensed, but Kakashi sent the duck butt out first. The missing nin was decidedly unimpressed.

Duck butt went after Haku while the pale one and the pink harpy protected the bridge builder. Naruto came up from behind and knocked out the pink bint.

The drone didn't even blink. He was about to attack when Naruto held up a hand.

"Please, I only knocked her out to shut her up. I want to see how this plays out before I bother to do anything."

Sai privately agreed, but stayed on guard while Sasuke got his ass handed to him by the ice user. Before Haku could make the kid into a modern piece of art, Naruto yelled at him.

"Ice boy! Knock his ass out already!"

Haku paused, before putting the avenger into a near death state.

Suddenly the mist came undone, and Naruto saw the position his master was in. He stopped the Copy Nin's attack with one of his own.

"GALE PALM!"

The jutsu unleashed a massive gust of wind, nearly knocking over Kakashi in the process. Zabuza was weighed down by all the dogs on him.

"So that's your third partner. Where did you get the ANBU gear?" he demanded. He recognized it in a heartbeat.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch tree hugger. The kid didn't kill any of your precious ANBU to get it," said Zabuza bored.

He heard clapping, and barely turned to see Gato on the unfinished end of the bridge with a large group of mercenaries. Zabuza growled, while Haku and Naruto quickly went to their master.

"Well look what we have here? Zabuza almost beaten by a bunch of brats!" sneered Gato.

"Gato...so the brat was right. You are going to betray me. Which means I have no reason to keep you alive or bother the bridge builder."

"Zabuza-sensei, can I?" asked Naruto eagerly.

"Go nuts fox boy."

Naruto gleefully drew his sword, and Kakashi stared as it expanded far beyond what the sheathe was physical capable of, even with seals. It had some sort of fur on the hilt and the entire thing looked like a fang of some kind.

"Hey old man, hope you don't try to make me pay for the damages to the bridge," Naruto called out to Tazuna.

"Kill the midget and I'll consider you even!" Tazuna said back.

Naruto raised his sword and cried "WIND SCAR!"

A massive gale blasted from the sword, whipping around like a hurricane. The mercenaries and the tyrant didn't stand a chance...and neither did that end of the bridge. A good sized chunk of the bridge, which didn't have any supports, fell off along with the large group of bodies. They were dead beyond recognition and pieces would be floating to the surface for months.

Seeing the kid who unleashed such devastation wasn't even phased by the amount of destruction, what little remained of the samurai fled.

Kakashi was staring at the sword however.

"Is that...?"

"Tetsusaiga, the Fang of Earth. He's my favorite partner," said Naruto fondly. Then he noticed the dogs giving him odd looks.

"What's up with you small and furry?"

Pakkun, the small pug on Zabuza's groin, spoke what the rest were thinking.

"You do realize that even having that Fang means that canines everywhere will listen to your orders, right?"

"Nope. The only animal on our team is Haku's rabbit."

"Whatever. Just don't be surprised if the Inuzuka hounds refuse to come near you with their attacks."

"Does that also qualify for Tensaiga?"

"Yup."

"Goody! Haku and I are immune from the Inuzuka clan!" said Naruto giddy.

* * *

Naruto was giving the bridge builder's grandson a reality check for the old man, and Haku was attempting to keep Zabuza in the land of the sober. He wasn't successful.

"So tell me kid, why are you wearing a Konoha Hunter uniform when you travel with a former Mist nin?" asked Kakashi, curious.

"Bah, Ero-sannin said if I insisted on pretending to be a Hunter, then I was going to wear Konoha's symbol. Something about not losing my heritage," said Naruto. He had his mask (his facial mask, not the fox one) on and to Kakashi's amusement he knew the trick of eating and drinking without taking it off.

"Oh?"

"I'm originally from Konoha, but someone named Hikari took me away. Frankly seeing the state of your genin I can't thank her enough! At least Zabuza-sensei puts me through a real work out!"

Kakashi winced, but quite agreed with that statement. The Academy system was so watered down it wasn't even funny. The mere fact Sakura, who was a obvious fan girl, even made it into the ranks was insulting enough.

"Who's Ero-sannin?" asked Sai. He was the only one listening to the conversation.

Zabuza, who had come over, was the one to say it.

"He means the Toad Sage. Guy nearly blew a fuse when he learned the kid was my apprentice," said Zabuza, who had a good buzz going.

"Why would Jiraiya of the Sannin care if a single kid became your apprentice?" asked Sai.

Naruto grinned. He handed Haku his camera and took off his facial mask. The second Kakashi saw those familiar whisker marks, he put two and two together and fainted from shock.

His sensei's son, the container for the Nine-Tailed Fox and heir to the Uzumaki clan...was apprenticed to a Kiri nin. No wonder Jiraiya nearly had a fit.

Naruto went off to get some sake while laughing the entire time.

* * *

It was a hung over Naruto who found the pug. Apparently Kakashi wanted him to return to Konoha, with or without his consent. Pakkun felt obliged to inform the blond of that fact since he wielded the Fang of the Earth.

When asked why by the only person who hadn't drunk copious amounts of sake or booze the night before (Haku) Pakkun told them the origin of the Fangs...and why dogs and wolves would at least listen to their requests.

"The Fang of Heaven and Earth are the last remnants of the Great Inu Youkai, who is the origin of all the summons who have canine blood in them. Hell, he's the reason most of us can talk. As a result, anyone who is permitted to wield them whether in war or in peace can speak to dogs and wolves and get them to listen to their requests. Even Inuzuka hounds, who are bonded with their humans, will listen to you."

"Huh...explain why they were called Fangs... Haku, hang over remedy _now_!" said Zabuza, trying not to groan.

"Indeed...either get us something for this hangover or for Kami's sake kill the sun and those damn birds!"

"One, I am not your servant. Two, you both deserve it for the amount of alcohol you drank last night. And Three, I am not about to kill those birds."

"This is why I fucking hate morning people," cried Naruto.

Pakkun joined Haku in mocking laughter while he ate something that had both of them heading to the porcelain gods of hangovers. Seeing their faces only made the ice user and the pug laugh harder.


	15. Dragon Fire Chapter One

When Itachi first saw his little brother, his first thought was _'Why did my parents wait a year and a half to introduce to the clan?'_

His mother had had complications during the birth, and had gone missing for a year. It was only recently that she had contacted them.

Ever since then it was a flurry of letters and secret meetings between the Hokage and Fugaku Uchiha.

As a six year old, Itachi had little understanding of the world around him. But he was still highly observant for his age. Even he could tell that Sasuke Uchiha didn't look anything like his parents.

He looked like an Uchiha, yes, but he didn't look like Fugaku or Mikoto Uchiha. At all.

Pale skin, check. Raven black hair, check. Green eyes?! Something was off about Sasuke, but Itachi couldn't place what.

It wasn't until he was eight that Itachi asked his mother if she had an affair with someone to produce Sasuke. She had been so startled by the accusation that she dropped a soapy pan on her foot.

It was then that Itachi found out about his uncle James. James had gone against the ninja lifestyle and had married outside the village. However he had died protecting his family from an enemy, and it was only because his wife had insisted on contacting his sister that Mikoto even knew about her nephew.

Because of Lily, Petunia was able to get a hold of the Uchiha clan a few days after the death of Itachi's actual brother. Since Mikoto was in so much pain after the fact that her new son was a still born she had adopted her nephew without question and named him after her son.

Which is where Sasuke Uchiha really came from.

Itachi, stunned by the news his brother wasn't actually his brother at all, but his cousin, didn't know how to handle the news.

But as he watched his little brother crawl up to him with wide green eyes that resembled the jewels his mother sometimes wore, he realized that no matter what anyone said he still loved the brat.

Sasuke had the strangest sixth sense for trouble though.

Itachi couldn't count the number of times he had found snakes in the play pen when he was babysitting his brother. The strangest thing was that the brat never got bit.

It wasn't until Itachi was nine that he found out why.

He wasn't very happy. He had been drafted to babysit his brother _again_. He actually didn't mind Sasuke, but strange things _always_ happened around him.

Occasionally he would escape the house no matter how hard Itachi spent making the house little brother proof. Then there was the snake problem, which seemed to get worse every year. His mother wasn't too happy, because she feared they would bite her children.

And then there was the incident with the cat known as Tora.

Tora, in one of his many bids for freedom, had come across Sasuke and scratched him by accident. Itachi didn't know _what_ his brother had done to that mangy flea bitten cat, but Tora yowled like a cat of the damned seconds after hurting his little brother, as if it had been electrocuted.

It hadn't gone near the Uchiha estate since then.

On the plus side, Itachi's team had never been asked to capture the damn cat again. And he had heard a rumor that even when Sasuke made Genin he would be banned from catching Tora.

Quite a feat for a five year old.

It was roughly after that incident that Itachi caught his brother _talking_ to the snakes that littered the yard. Completely in shock, Itachi never thought to get his brother away from the snakes.

Instead his mind went to the crazy ass Chunin Anko.

Who knew what would happen if his brother teamed up with that woman?

The idea of the chaos the two could cause brightened his day immediately.

When Sasuke finally saw him, he raised his arms in the universal sign to be picked up. Itachi grinned.

No matter what his father said or did, his brother never acted like a proper Uchiha, and it annoyed the hell out of the man. Given all the fawning his father and the elders did on Itachi for graduating at age eight, he wasn't sure it was a bad thing that his brother had figured out who would give him hugs.

His father certainly never did.

* * *

Itachi was highly amused when he found his little brother reading, again. Whenever Itachi told his brother that he couldn't train with him, Sasuke would immediately head to the library and get a book on jutsu. Usually ninjutsu.

Originally it had bothered him that his brother had given up so easily, but eventually he realized Sasuke knew his brother was very busy, so he may as well do something constructive with the time.

Once he realized that, Itachi started to direct him to the more useful training scrolls, to the boy's delight. Just because he couldn't train with him didn't mean he couldn't help.

Of course that didn't count all the times Sasuke had snuck into his room to talk with Itachi.

Itachi had been surprised to learn his brother was just as smart as he was, he just didn't like showing it. Sasuke was quite adept at picking apart jutsu without having seen them in action. Itachi had even put his brother under a few genjutsu, and discovered Sasuke could figure it out without being told he was under one.

Itachi found the fact that his younger brother was a cuddle monster quite funny. Even though the few times Sasuke had done it to him when he was injured yielded surprising results.

Once, when he was suffering from a dislocated shoulder (he had popped it back in place, but it was still rather painful) and Sasuke had curled up next to him, the pain went away in a matter of minutes when it should have taken a few hours.

Another time he had bruised several ribs from his teammates attack, and five minutes after Sasuke fell asleep the ribs started to mend at an accelerated rate. His teammate was shocked beyond belief when he had found out the injury was already gone.

* * *

"Aniki! I got into the Academy!" said Sasuke happily.

Itachi loved that his brother only ever really opened up to him. Sasuke wasn't nearly as close to his parents than he was to Itachi. Because he rarely tried to get approval from their father, Itachi had unofficially taken up the role.

It actually didn't bother him, because so long as his brother didn't try to get approval from a man who barely acknowledged his existence in the morning, it meant he wouldn't have a stick up his ass like half the Uchiha clan did.

Sasuke didn't seem upset that his father didn't even want to go to the opening ceremony for him. Itachi decided to stand in for the boy.

Fugaku wasn't too happy about that, and went anyway, if only to keep up appearances that he actually _cared_ about Sasuke.

He had no idea most of the village had already figured out he didn't care for his youngest. The feeling was clearly mutual.

* * *

"Aniki, I made a friend today!"

"Who?"

"His name is Naruto and he looks like a fox!"

Itachi choked on his dango. Trust his little brother to become friends with the Kyuubi container.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I wonder why people kept giving him the same looks Otou-san sometimes shoots my way when he thinks I'm not looking."

Itachi sent a glare in the direction of his father. He had noticed a few of those looks, and he wasn't happy about them in the least.

Fortunately Sasuke had long since learned who actually cared about what he thought or felt by the time he was four.

For the next week Sasuke and Naruto sat together and got along swimmingly. Naruto even helped Sasuke escape from his rather large number of fan girls. It seemed his club would be larger that Itachi's by the time he was thirteen.

Itachi found that fact hilarious, and proceeded to share his numerous escape plans with the boy.

About a month into the Academy, Sasuke came to Itachi looking highly annoyed. But not at his fellow classmates. He was annoyed with his father.

"Otou-san says I'm not to talk to Naruto anymore. Said it wasn't befitting an Uchiha to consort with someone like him."

Itachi was furious. Naruto Uzamaki, while the demon container, was one of the few actual friends his brother had.

"Otou-san can stuff his orders where the sun doesn't shine. I never liked him anyway."

Itachi gaped. Then hugged his little brother.

"I'm going to have a talk with father and see if I can't get him to back off."

_An hour later..._

"Father, why did you tell Sasuke he couldn't be friends with Naruto?" Itachi asked calmly.

"He is an Uchiha. We don't speak to Demon Containers unless absolutely necessary," said Fugaku coldly.

"And if Sasuke does continue his friendship with the boy? What would you do then?"

"I would disown him."

Itachi felt cold rage in his stomach, then he had a cruel idea. If his father was going to play _that _way, then so could he.

"Very well. I shall simply have Anko-sempai train Sasuke. I'm sure she would love to have an apprentice who can speak to snakes," he said evenly.

Fugaku turned to Itachi, shock in his features.

"What did you say?"

"Sasuke has the ability to snake speak. I've known it for years. Why did you think there are nearly fifty species of poisonous snakes in our yard at all times of the day?"

Itachi left, feeling he had shocked his father silent.

* * *

"Let me get this straight. You want me to train your little brother whenever you're on missions why?" asked Anko.

"Because my father sure as hell won't do it, unless you put a kunai to his throat. Besides...Sasuke can snake speak. There are currently sixty breeds of snake in our back yard, and fifty of them are extremely poisonous."

Anko stared at him blankly.

"Can I test that out?"

"Knock yourself out, so long as you don't hurt my brother."

The next afternoon, Anko picked up Sasuke and Naruto and took them to Area 44. Where Sasuke shocked her by speaking to one of the larger breeds of snake in the forest, and the snake talked back amused.

She actually fell off the branch when he did that.

After that Sasuke and Naruto occasionally crashed her office to learn something new, to Itachi's amusement. It had the added effect of keeping the large horde of fan girls far, far from his brother.

None of them wanted to get near the snake bitch.

* * *

Itachi was thirteen when he found out the plan to overthrow the Hokage.

Being the genius that he was, he saw the ending of that plan rather easily.

Konoha would be in ruins, and the number of dead shinobi would be catastrophic. It was like his father wanted to permanently ruin the Leaf Village on purpose.

He kept silent though, and instead informed the Hokage about it.

The Hokage was definitely not happy to hear about the plot, and had Itachi spy for him. Itachi had to divide his attention between the role of spy and making sure his brother never caught wind of the plan, because at some point during his forays into the Forest of Death, he had accidentally activated his Sharingan.

It only had two tomoe now, but with a lot of practice he would have fully developed his eyes.

Anko found it hilarious that Itachi's little brother loved to sneak into the one training ground most people avoided because of the animals. Apparently he had befriended most of the large snakes in the area.

Eventually things came to a boil when Shisui came to Itachi. One look told him all he needed to know.

Someone had caught on to the fact that Itachi was reporting the rebellion to the Hokage, and had sent his best friend to kill him. Shisui took his clan's orders above the Hokage.

"Are you blind? Do you have any idea what would happen if this rebellion got out of hand?" asked Itachi, kunai in his hand.

"I don't know and I could care less. The elders told me to kill you, so you have only one option at this point."

"Aniki?" asked Sasuke tiredly. He had a bad dream and had gotten up to find his brother. Itachi didn't care if Sasuke snuggled up to him after a bad dream.

"Sasuke stay back!" said Itachi.

"Is Shisui being bad?" asked Sasuke, looking at his cousin curiously.

"Father and the elders are being bad Sasuke. Shisui is following their orders."

"..."

Shisui went after Itachi, believing the boy to be distracted by his brother. He would have to kill Sasuke as well, though Fugaku wouldn't complain.

Sasuke stared wide eyed as Itachi calmly took out Shisui. After four years of late night talks with his little brother about jutsu, Itachi had improved more than he had realized.

Itachi felt his Sharigan change as the blood cooled on his kunai. Shisui was dead.

"Aniki? What happens now?"

"This has gone on long enough. Hokage-sama will have to take out the traitors. Sasuke, tomorrow I will pick you up from the Academy and we will wait until the ANBU come and collect us."

"Are mother and father going to die?"

"I believe so."

"Were they being really bad?"

"Yes, they were."

"Okay then. They shouldn't have been bad."

* * *

Fugaku tried and failed to hide the stare when Itachi walked in during breakfast. Sasuke yawned and ate his cereal, oblivious to the atmosphere around him.

Itachi left to get his missions for the day. It was after he left that Fugaku heard Shisui had been found dead of kunai wounds. The skill level of the attack was a bit high, even for Itachi.

* * *

"Lord Hokage, Fugaku tried to have me assassinated last night. I believe he knows about my reports."

Sarutobi sighed. He really wished it hadn't come to this. But he had no choice.

"Is there anyone in the Uchiha besides yourself who isn't a part of this?"

"Sasuke learned about it from me, but I find it very worrying that he wasn't upset that our parents have to die. I told him I would pick him up from school so he wouldn't walk into the compound."

When Itachi reached the school, however, Sasuke wasn't there. And that bothered him greatly.

Sasuke was very close to him, and would never wander off if Itachi promised he would train the boy. He had already mastered the lower level fire jutsu a week ago.

Iruka looked at Itachi in surprise.

"Didn't you send a clone to pick up Sasuke?" he asked.

Wide eyed, Itachi ran to the compound. And found a massacre waiting for him.

He ran to his house...and found Sasuke, trying his best to get away from the look alike before him.

Clearly the boy had figured out it wasn't Itachi rather quickly, because there were numerous cuts and bite marks on the fake. He looked rather angry at the boy.

Then again, if Itachi hadn't seen the large number of snakes outside the door he would have passed it by.

Suddenly the fake dropped Sasuke. It appeared that he had gotten a nasty shock from the boy. Without being told, Sasuke bolted towards his brother.

Sasuke looked at Itachi, his eyes wide in shock.

"He killed everyone. Even the little ones," he said.

Itachi glared at his fake. The Hokage would have at least spared the children, those who were too young to know any better.

"Sasuke, I want you to run to the ANBU and get help."

"No! I don't want to lose you too!"

Itachi gave his brother a look, but something happened that changed quite a few things.

One minute Itachi was about to attack the fake...the next he and his brother were in Area 44 surrounded by some very surprised snakes. They could smell the blood on the boy.

Fifteen minutes later Anko found them in the snake den, Itachi completely in shock that his little brother had somehow managed to teleport them nearly ten miles away from the compound without a single hand sign!

"You do realize that all hell has broken loose about the clan, right?"

"What happened?"

"Iruka figured out something was wrong and sent the ANBU to the Uchiha estate. You're the only survivors, though everyone thinks you did it. Frankly I think that idea is bull shit, since you never would have killed those children."

Itachi took his little brother to the Hokage, and no one realized it was him.

"So it wasn't you who attacked the clan. Care to explain?"

"I went to pick up Sasuke only to be informed that what Iruka believed to be a clone had already taken him. If I hadn't seen the snakes outside the door I wouldn't have known which room my brother was in. Someone wants everyone to believe I killed my clan."

Sasuke, who had been silent, spoke up.

"I knew it wasn't aniki. He said we were going to train today and the man took me back home instead. Aniki never lies to me unless it's really, really important."

"What I want to know is how the hell you got passed the ANBU that Iruka sent not two minutes after you left the Academy and ended up in the Forest," said Anko.

"Ask Sasuke."

"He was going to hurt aniki. I had to do _something_ to keep him from getting hurt," said Sasuke.

Everyone looked at him.

"What did you do?" asked Sarutobi, interested.

"I really, really wanted to be in the den with my big snake friends, and while I was imagining myself there I ended up taking Aniki with me. Felt weird though..."

"It felt like I was being pulled through a small hole," said Itachi dryly.

Sasuke nodded.

"Right...since I can't very well announce the fact that the Uchiha clan was mostly going to be wiped out anyway, I suppose we'll have to work out another arrangement."

"...Can I be put on a mission outside Konoha until the dust settles? The last thing I want to deal with is the Elders and their damn marriage proposals."

"I can do that. Mind doing some infiltration?"

"Fine."

The Hokage write up the scroll, Itachi accepted it with a nod, and vanished with a poof of smoke. He had a lot of things to pack and not a lot of time to do it.

Sasuke was being stared at by Anko and the Hokage.

"What?"

"Why aren't you more upset about losing your family?" Anko finally asked.

"Itachi was the only one who bothered to actually look at me. If they weren't praising him, they were usually giving me dirty looks."


	16. Foxes of a Blood Moon Chapter One

It all started when he was eight. It was the day before the Kyuubi Festival, which he hated with a passion. Most of the children in his class couldn't wait for the festival...he was the only one who dreaded it.

He usually spent those two days of hell holed up in the Hokage Tower, or if that wasn't possible, the hidden ANBU headquarters. They didn't mind his presence, since he was quiet and he would bring scrolls with him to read. Not even the teachers would force him out of there, even if he did miss two days of school.

He gathered his things for the day, and headed towards the tower. He was almost out of the door went he felt a strange tug. Normally he would ignore it, but he noticed there was a gathering crowd near the tower, and he didn't want to go near it.

So he followed the tug...and it lead him out of the more heavily trafficked areas to a rather large forested area.

Naruto was no stranger to forests. He was the best at survival exercises in his entire class, and he practically lived in the forest surrounding the village. Hell, he was able to outrun the ANBU and half the jounin in a forest!

However this place felt a little different. For one thing there was a massive fence around it that practically screamed for no one to enter. For another it felt weird...almost feral.

The tugging grew stronger, but his common sense warned him against it.

Then he sensed something behind him and ducked. A kunai flew past where his head was. He didn't think twice...he ran into the forbidding forest and away from the drunk who had just tried to kill him.

He kept running, unknowingly following the tug deeper into the forest.

Suddenly he stopped cold.

The sensation was gone...but he wasn't alone. He was in a massive clearing surrounding by glowing eyes and nasty laughter.

"_What's a human child doing in this forest?"_ sneered one.

"_Doesn't it know that there are many things that would eat a little one?"_ smirked another.

"HEY! If your going to laugh at me do it to my face!" yelled Naruto.

"_Thinks he can order us around, does he? Perhaps the Boss would like to eat him,"_ sneered the first voice.

"**ENOUGH! Boy, what is your name and why did you come to this particular place in the forest?"** demanded an older, more powerful voice.

"I don't even know what this place is! All I know was that I was running from some drunk trying to kill me and this weird tugging brought me right here! And my name is Uzumaki Naruto!"

"**Uzumaki? As in the son of Kushina Uzumaki?"**

"Who?"

A larger form shifted and came into view. It was a massive fox with almost nine full luxurious tails and it was silver in color. It walked up to Naruto and took a deep whiff of his scent.

"**Strange... You have a mixture of her scent...and also of ours. Well, that and a large undercurrent of ramen."**

"OI! Don't diss the ramen!" said Naruto.

The fox chuckled. It was almost like meeting a blond Kushina. She was just as loud and had just a big a love of ramen.

"**Who were your parents Uzumaki?"**

"I dunno. The Old Man said I wasn't old enough to learn who they were..." said Naruto sadly. It was something he got teased about often, that he didn't know who his own parents were. Some kids even called him a bastard child.

"**Hmph. If you are Kushina's son, then it stands to reason that you are not a bastard offspring. The last time I checked she had been married in the presence of the Third Hokage and a small group of trusted friends. Her husband was considered dangerous by Iwa, so they couldn't let the fact he was married known. Why are you in the forest?"**

"I was chased in here by a drunk. They always chase me during the Kyuubi Festival. I don't know why."

The fox settled down. Clearly this boy wasn't a danger to them... If the shinobi ever discovered their presence in the forest, then chances were rather high they would do everything in their power to destroy the fox demon clan, summons or not.

He cursed the day the oldest of their ancestors attacked Konoha. It ruined a lot of things for them, not to mention made it very unsafe for them to have a summoner in the village.

His clan was slowly but steadily declining as the foolish shinobi killed them off and their power waned. If they didn't find someone to summon them, then chances were good they would have to relocate to the summons realm, where the pickings were much lower and they had enemies aplenty.

Naruto yawned. All that running and adrenaline rush had tired him out. The fox chuckled and curled his tail around the boy who practically feel asleep once he realized the Boss summon of the foxes wouldn't eat him.

* * *

He was in a sewer. There was a light, and knowing that he might as well find out where he was he went into it. He found himself in a massive area with what appeared to be bars drawn up. He had no doubt they would slam down at the first hint of trouble.

"_**So the brat actually paid attention to my directions. Good."**_

He stopped cold and stared in shock. He knew that voice.

It was his ancestor, the Kyuubi no Yoko, mightiest of the nine bijuu.

"**Lord Kyuubi, we believed the human had sealed you in Kushina just before her death."**

To the fox summons, the Bijuu's might were so great that even death itself couldn't stop them. It was close enough to the truth.

"_**Bah! That blond fool sealed me in his son. If it weren't for that damn Uchiha controlling me, I wouldn't be inside another container!"**_

"**Was it Madara?"** asked the fox tentatively. Madara Uchiha was considered their greatest enemy after the first time he controlled their ancestor. They respected Mito to a point, because very few humans could seal a bijuu without help from others.

"_**It was. He attacked Uzumaki Kushina shortly after she had given birth to her kit, and then proceeded to use me against Konoha. That damn Yondaime sealed me in his son, using the last of his wife's power to act as the bars. She is only allowing me this small chance to help her son."**_

"**Konoha has been less than tolerant of late. Is the boy who came into our area...?"**

"_**He is Kushina's kit, and my current jailor. Because of the power behind this seal, I was unable to do more than heal him after those idiot humans tried to kill him. However Kushina allowed me to lead him to the clan in hopes that we might be able to make a compromise."**_

"**You wish to make him our summoner?"**

"_**That damn Yondaime agreed to allow it. Had the boy's godfather actually done what he should have, I would have been unable to influence the boy. It's not my problem if the Toads lose their potential summoner. And according to Konoha's by-laws, summons can act independent of their summoner if in danger. You can do what the boy cannot, and take care of the mobs permanently."**_

"**I see. I shall discuss it with the clan, but if the child truly is your current container, there shouldn't be too much issue. And with a summoner the clan might actually thrive again."**

"_**Two shinobi with a single kunai. The child is protected from the village and the clan will return to it's former strength. When the boy is old enough, I want you to teach him the ways of the clan so that he won't be nearly as trying to deal with as his mother."**_

The fox bowed, and felt himself slipping from the boy's mind. Perhaps once he trained with the clan, this sewer would become a forest.

* * *

Naruto yawned. This was the best sleep he had had in...well, ever. He always had to be half aware of his surroundings even while asleep because there were quite a few who wanted him dead...and most of them were civilians. Because he was just a student, he couldn't attack them and be treated fairly by the civilian courts, who practically hated him.

Once he became a genin, all that would change and he would be able to act if someone tried to hurt him, civilian or not.

It took him very little time to fully wake up. He hated mornings with a passion, but being alert and awake in seconds could save his life...and had a few times.

He was fully awake...and surrounded by the foxes.

"**Good, you are awake. The clan has been...convening...while you slept and we have agreed. How would you like to become our summoner?"** asked the Boss.

Once informed that the child who came into their territory was the current container for their greatest ancestor, the clan was less skeptical of a child becoming their new summoner. It didn't hurt that he was also the son of their previous summoner Kushina. Or that by allowing him to summon them in the village, they would legally be able to defend themselves if attacked.

"What's in it for me?" he asked.

Instead of being offended, the Boss chuckled.

"**For starters when summoned we would legally be able to stop anyone from attacking you without provocation. A summon can act independent of the summoner, and no one would assume that a child your age could control, say about a five-tailed fox, with any real degree of success. Not to mention that summon clans are rare in any village and their summoning scrolls are highly coveted."**

"You guys can stop the mobs?" said Naruto.

Clearly he could care less about how rare a summoning contract was or how much people would pay for one.

"**Indeed. And it doubles as protection for the clan as well, because summons are considered on par with at least a genin, which means any legal disputes go straight to the Hokage. If they attack us with a legal summoner on record without us attacking them first, then they are the ones who will get into trouble."**

Naruto grinned.

"Where do I sign up?"

Though he had to be shown how to sign his name properly, Naruto was more than eager to learn how to summon foxes.

By the time Naruto left the forest, he could summon at least a four-tailed fox with some accuracy, and the clan promised to help him learn about the shinobi arts so he wouldn't be the dead last anymore. The Kyuubi festival had come and gone, so he should be relatively safe from the mobs.

No one commented on the fact he had been missing for two days.

* * *

During recess Naruto sat alone and read one of the scrolls the Boss fox had given him. The other kids left him alone mostly, except for a few idiots who thought they could bully the orphan.

Iruka managed to stop them before it got too bad, but Naruto still had a busted lip. While the other teachers hated Naruto, Iruka had at least tried to see past whatever the hell it was the teachers unanimously hated.

Naruto was about to head to the ramen stand so the Ramen Man and his daughter would know he was still alive when he noticed a mob forming.

He frowned...they normally had more sense than to form this close to the tower, and it was known that the Hokage wouldn't allow anyone to hurt him.

He thought quickly and slowly went through the hands signs, trying to be as discreet as he could to avoid any shinobi from recognizing what he was up to.

One of the things the Boss had corrected was his tendency to go through his hand signs too quickly. Learning to do them fast was a good thing, he said, but his hands needed to learn how to do them right before he could do them on instinct.

Once he was done with the last sign, he waited for the mob to notice him. Something he learned about summoning jutsu was that until you put chakra into it, it wouldn't activate. All he had to do to break the jutsu was put another hand sign and it would dissipate.

Sure enough the crowd noticed him, and with a roar it chased him. Naruto didn't think twice. He slammed his hand to the ground and activated the summons.

A Five-tailed fox appeared, looking less than pleased.

The crowd paused for a moment, before more joined in. Apparently the ability to summon foxes had caused more to become enraged.

The fox sneered at them all, before grabbing Naruto and bolting straight to where the ANBU headquarters was. The kid didn't need to attack them so soon after becoming their summoner. They needed to wait a few months before that could happen.

* * *

Anko was on duty when the fox showed up with the Kyuubi container in it's teeth.

Naturally she was very surprised, so she decided to learn what the hell was going on first before jumping to conclusions.

"Alright foxy, care to explain yourself?"

"_New summoner. He brought me out to keep a mob from killing him so soon after leaving school. Can't legally attack them without his new status as summoner being known for at least three months."_

"New... Where the hell did the kid get a summon contract?"

"_Our ancestor lead him to us and explained his situation. Boss said it would be best if the kid was on the same contract his mother signed when she first became the new container."_

Anko's eyes were wide. This kid was a new summoner? And the fox clan in the forest (she knew they were there, but they had never bothered her so she never mentioned it to others) used to be the summons of Kushina?

"I'll inform the Hokage. Since he's still a rookie, I'll even see if I can train him in how to work with summons."

The foxes eye's narrowed, before he took a whiff of her scent.

"_Ah. I thought I recognized your scent. You are Manda's youngest summoner. The Boss would like to thank you for not mentioning our presence in the forest."_

"You guys never bother me while I'm in there. And frankly I could care less if you are or not."

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was having a bad day. After Naruto had summoned the (clearly) demonic fox in the middle of the market district, nearly fifty civilians and a few shinobi came in to claim that the Kyuubi had learned how to bring it's kin out!

Then Anko showed up, spotted the crowd in his office, and informs him that Naruto was now a summoner of kitsune that lived near the village, making great care not to mention where. The boy in question was being treated to ramen while in the middle of the ANBU lounge, most of whom were making several small observations as to whether he had suddenly lost control to the fox or not.

So far all the signs pointed that he was still Naruto Uzumaki, not the fox.

Then, to top things off, the full council was called just to discuss the news that the boy had somehow gotten his hands on a kitsune summoning contract!

Finally, he had had enough. He had the ANBU bring Naruto in and demonstrate that the foxes were nothing more than summons.

Naruto slowly went through the signs and said "Summoning Jutsu!"

He poured enough chakra into the jutsu (probably aided by the fox) to actually bring out the Boss summon.

"**Hmph. I wasn't expecting his status as our summoner to be called into question a mere few hours after leaving our area."**

Some of the civilians were shrieking about the demon, but they were silence relatively quickly...by a kunai to the throat. Naruto didn't even flinch at the sight of death.

"Since we have you here, we need to clarify a few things, if only to keep this entire headache from reappearing. First, are you the Boss summon of the Kitsune clan?"

"**I am. We are the descendants of the Kyuubi no Yoko, but he is considered little more than one of our elders. We hold no ill will towards the village, but rather the one responsible for his attack on you."**

"What do you mean the one responsible?" asked Tsume.

"**So you are the new Inuzuka Head. It is quite simple really. If you people would recall your history, the first Hokage fought a man who could control our ancestor and did in the Valley of the End. But, as records show, the man in question was merely defeated and his body never found. According to our ancestor, this man appeared again when the second container had just given birth to her kit, and ripped him from the seal to attack the village. Your Fourth Hokage used another seal to imprison him with the help of his wife, who just barely survived the extraction of the Kyuubi."**

"Are you telling us Madara Uchiha is alive?" said Shikaku.

"**He is not only alive, he is the true culprit behind the Kyuubi's attack. Uzumaki Naruto is not the only one to have suffered from it. Our clan has been dying slowly since Kushina's death, and more of us have died each year with your shinobi attacking us."**

"So you had Naruto sign your scroll as a way to protect your summon clan. Because of our laws, we are unable to attack a clan with a summoner on record, even if they are still a student in the Academy," said Sarutobi. He didn't like where this was going.

"**The protection goes both ways, Hokage. This child was being chased by a drunk shinobi who sought to kill him. We will defend him when called since he is unable to do so without your civilians getting in the way. We will keep him safe until he become genin."**

Sarutobi sighed. He could see the fox had a valid point. Naruto's new summoning ability protected him from the civilians revenge if attacked, and his new status kept the shinobi from attacking their clan without a damn good reason. His hands were tied.

"I have only one request of your clan. If it's possible, do try to bring the attackers in _alive._"

"**Just alive?"**

"The less death caused by this mess, the less paperwork I have to do. Maiming doesn't cause nearly as much animosity as death," said Sarutobi flatly.

"Hokage-sama! You can't be seriously considering allowing these...things...to attack the citizens!" protested Haruno.

"My hands are tied in this matter. The rule allowing summons to act independent of their summoner was set down by the First, and it would be foolish to believe a child could control a kitsune when he still learning to be a shinobi. As long as the assailants are alive, I have no issue allowing them in the village," said Sarutobi flatly.

With that, the meeting was over. Naruto was walked home by the Hokage who got a promise not to bring out the really big foxes unless he absolutely had to. He could bring out a two-tailed for fun, but anything over three was off limits unless he was in real danger.

Considering the Boss had given him similar instructions (he had banned anything over four tails from being summoned outside of battle) Naruto was quick to agree.


	17. The Wind Mistress of Suna Chapter One

It was a week after the Uchiha massacre, and Sarutobi Hiruzen was worried.

No one had seen little Naruko all week, not since the uproar started when the Uchiha clan was nearly wiped out in a single night.

Now that the mess had relatively settled down, he went looking for Naruko.

And he only really started to panic when Teuchi said he hadn't seen the girl for over a week. With how much that girl loved her ramen, she should have been there at least once!

He discreetly sent out the ANBU. And only had his fears confirmed.

Naruko wasn't in the village any more. She hadn't been seen since the massacre, and someone had left with a suspicious bundle right before the gates were closed and martial law was put into effect.

And to his fury, when word got out that the Kyuubi container had been kidnapped by who knows what, there was cheering from the civilians.

He had been so angry at them that he punished those he could severely if they were foolish enough to break the law.

He didn't feel the least bit sorry when he executed those too drunk to realize that they had spoken about the fact the Kyuubi was sealed in the girl out loud.

* * *

Naruko awoke to find herself near a great plain, with no water in sight.

"Awake I see. Good. You are at a crossroads, little Uzumaki. You must choose your own fate for a change instead of allowing those around you decide it," said her kidnapper.

"Who are you lady? What do you want?"

"Me? I merely wish to watch events unfold differently. Did you know, little Uzumaki, that had you remained in Konoha, it would have taken the destruction and resurrection of your precious village for you to gain any true respect outside the chosen few? That your heritage would never come out until your sixteenth year by which time many monsters would be after your life?"

"What?"

"Your current destiny is that you will be a child of prophecy, one who unites the world in peace, though at the cost of your own happiness. I am simply giving you a choice to grow stronger without anyone holding you back. Do this, and you will prove to that ungrateful village that you are not the monster they believe you to be, even if it takes some time before you can consider returning."

"Who are you lady?"

She smiled.

"I am Sakura Hikari, the Demon Alchemist. I like to meddle with prophecies and piss off fate. Destiny should be given a chance to change for the better, and prophecies as a whole tend to control rather than direct like they should. What do you say, little Uzumaki? Will you accept my challenge?"

"Lady, I have never backed down from a fight and I won't start now! I accept your challenge!"

"Good. Here's your first quest. You must find out what similarities you share with the one known as Gaara no Subaku, and discover the power that had been foolishly hidden from you in a vain attempt to give you friends. When you learn the truth, I will show up again and tell you the next step to becoming a Sannin."

"Why would I want to be a sage? I want to be a Kage!"

"Yes, but Sannin don't have to do nearly as much paperwork and they still get missions. Kage get stuck behind a desk all day and have to listen to old people complain."

That stopped Naruko cold.

"No evil paperwork?"

"Well, no where near as much. Plus Sannin are always the first in line to become Kages when things go wrong."

"That does it! I'll become the strongest Sannin alive!"

"Also, between you and me, there's something else I want you to at least try."

"What is it Old lady?"

"OLD?! I'm only 25 you twerp! I suppose you don't want this super secret and almost impossible to accomplish mission to convert Gaara to the god of pranks and ramen...?" she said annoyed.

Naruko's eyes widened.

"Are...are you a goddess?"

"I am to you. And from now on, whenever you see me just call me Nee-chan. Otherwise you'll get a good sized lump on your head."

"Okay Nee-chan!"

* * *

"And why should I allow this girl to become a kunoichi on my pay?" asked the Kazekage.

"Simple really. You'll be one-upping the Leaf and when they discover where I've hidden her they'll be extremely pissed off that you trained her properly first."

"This brat is from the Leaf?"

"She is the cousin of Tsunade Senju and the daughter of the last Uzumaki clan head Kushina. Furthermore because of her heritage she has a chakra capacity close to Gaara's without the tailed beast he holds inside him."

"And why should I care about that?" asked the Kazekage, though he was interested.

"Simple. Imagine the results of little Naruko and Gaara pairing together and having children. That chakra capacity along with the girl's natural wind affinity?"

"The girl is a wind-element?"

"She inherited it from her father, who I shall not name until she is ready."

"What do we get out of it?"

"More genin. I'll be sending money to Naruko each month and one million ryo a year to your Academy."

"Fine. The girl can become a kuniochi of the Sand. But we need that first payment now to explain her presence."

* * *

Gaara was out trying to play catch with the other children...who wanted nothing to do with him. That is, until someone threw a ball at him. His sand caught it and he stared.

The girl had red hair with golden highlights for bangs. Her eyes were a sapphire blue and kind. She was wearing an orange outfit that suited her well enough.

"Hi! Want to play catch?"

Gaara nodded slowly. The girl grinned and soon the two were playing.

A woman with reddish brown hair arrived and watched them. She was grinning wildly.

"Good job chibi. I'll take you to your apartment where you'll be staying until it's safe to return home."

"Why can't I go back to Konoha now?"

"Well, in about eight years or so there is a group of people who will chase you down and try to kill you. If they have no idea where you live, then they can't hurt you. Also we're pranking the Leaf Village as revenge for treating you like scum all this time."

"Oh, it's for a prank? Why didn't you just say so?"

"And this prank involves you not mentioning you're originally from Konoha. You have to act like you came from a trader caravan from within Fire Territory who lost her parents, and you want to become a ninja so you would be able to protect yourself from being scared like that again. Because of the Uchiha Massacre, you were sent to Suna instead of Konoha, because the Leaf Village was on lockdown."

"So we're playing spy?"

"Exactly! But in order to win, people can't know you're playing!"

"Okay Nee-chan! But when does the game end?"

"You'll know when it ends."

* * *

_One month later..._

Naruko Uzumaki (she had never been told to change her name, so she didn't...though her blond hair still retained the red highlights, and she really liked them) absolutely loved Suna. Sure, she missed roaming the forests of Konoha, and Ichiraku's ramen, but in Suna she was never kicked out of stores, given bad scrolls or told to leave the class unless she actually did something.

And then there was the fact she had friends. Actual friends. Their parents didn't encourage them to stay away, or tell them she was trouble.

She was the most popular girl in the entire Academy. Of course that was curbed by the fact she continued to hang out with Gaara, who was rumored to be the container for the One-Tailed Raccoon Shukaku.

She wasn't a total idiot. She added the facts together rather quickly.

She was the container for the Nine-Tailed Fox. It was the only thing that made sense...the yells, the fact everyone in Konoha hated her on sight barring a few, and the mobs that happened every Kyuubi Festival.

It took her a week to get angry and make up her mind.

If Konoha wouldn't appreciate her for a furball she wanted nothing to do with, then perhaps Suna would. She would prove them all wrong and become a sage. That would show all of them!

Gaara seemed to depend on her, especially when his uncle Yashamaru tried to kill him. Naruko, all too aware what it was like to never have any friends, never left his side, even when his sand started to crawl all over her.

She was one of only two people who could calm down his murderous rampages. Yashamaru had really messed him up.

The other was her idol, Temari...who happened to be Gaara's older sister.

Hikari appeared randomly every month, to deposit the cash in her account...and to drop scrolls on different subjects each time. One month it was about glass making, which was odd because the month before it had fire jutsu.

Of course that had her interest, and she soon had a small business going with glass sculptures that she made with a lot of Gaara's help. She even gave him half her profits.

* * *

Before she knew it, she had become a genin on Gaara's team...mostly because trying to keep them apart tended to result in Gaara doing something drastic.

The Kazekage had more sense than that.

"Alright, so what's our mission today?" asked Naruko. Gone was her orange and blue monstrosity... while she still wore orange, it was in tasteful hues along with red and yellow. Her hair wasn't long, but it was held in a pair of pigtails that didn't go longer than her neck. Her outfit was formfitting, but made for a lot of movement. She hated skirts, and Temari had once commented that if she hadn't developed such a bust at an early age along with her pig tails, she would be mistaken for a _boy_.

"We have to assassinate the shipping magnet Gato. Apparently he cheated the Kazekage out of quite a bit of money recently, and the Lord Kazekage wants an example made out of him. Succeed, and you get A rank pay. The only problem is that we've heard rumors he's recently hired Zabuza Momochi of the Mist to protect him," said Baki.

"Momochi, as in the Demon of the Hidden Mist?" snorted Naruko.

Baki nodded. All four of the team had an updated BINGO book and two assassinations under their belts.

"Gato was last spotted in the country of Wave. You have an hour to get ready, and then we leave. Dismissed!"

All four of them went to their joint apartment. Temari bunked with Naruko, while Gaara and Kankuro got a room to themselves. Apparently Gaara hated listening to Kankuro snore.

It was because of Temari's vast efforts that Naruko wasn't a complete tomboy and actually had a few feminine things...like hair ties and dolls. She even had a bit of make up, but she only used it during seduction missions.

* * *

Kakashi Hatake was a miserable man. He had been blackmailed into passing this team of genin, despite the fact that they rarely showed any signs of actual teamwork.

Sasuke Uchiha had absolutely no respect for anyone on his team, even when he learned Kakashi had the Sharingan. Sakura Haruno was little more than a fan girl who got lucky that her written exam was so high that she had been considered for the Intelligence department, which was the only reason they allowed her to pass. And Hiromi Reiko was a girl from a dead clan who had yet to master any of her clan techniques.

They had taken this mission solely because Kakashi was tired of their whining and hoped that maybe a taste of a real mission would finally shut them up and make them take their careers as Shinobi seriously.

Instead he got a mislabeled mission, three chunin level and one jounin level opponents and he had to kill their employer just to save the country!

He really wished that Naruko hadn't been taken. It wasn't a secret that Konoha had lost their Jinchuriki, at least among the Big Five. Perhaps her sunny disposition could have brought the team together long enough to dislodge the kunai the Elders shoved up the Uchiha's ass.

And now, to make matters worse, Gato was about to kill them all with simple bandits! Zabuza was too heavily injured and his apprentice was nearly out of chakra.

They were all going to die... what was that sound?

A massive Fuma shuriken cut through the bandits like butter, only to be recaptured by a girl with golden hair and bright crimson red highlights.

"Temari, take out the other half! Kankuro, keep Gato from running! I don't want to chase this asshole down after we finally found his ass!" barked the girl.

The girl landed next to a red haired boy with a gourd. It was clear he was playing defense for her in case they got through the first two.

Behind him was a Suna jounin, clearly their instructor.

"What?!" screamed Gato, shocked that even more shinobi had shown up.

"You shouldn't have cheated Kazekage-sama... He was less than pleased," sneered the girl.

She channeled fire into her hand, and the boy with the gourd brought out a massive amount of sand that she turned into glass wings. These wings proved to be razor sharp implements of death, as she demonstrated by flying low and having them slice bandits in half.

Kakashi wasn't the only one marveling at her ability to fly.

"Damn... Sand girlie has some serious wind manipulation under her belt to pull that off..." muttered Zabuza.

The girl turned to the red head.

"Gaara, leave his head intact. We need it to confirm kill," she said.

"Yes, Naruko-chan," said the red head tonelessly.

Kakashi blinked. Naruko? Looking closely at the girl, he realized with a start that she did resemble the missing girl from his village...though she had apparently ditched the orange outfit and had added highlights. And had become a wind-adept to rival her father in his prime.

Kakashi winced...this was going to be _hell_ to explain on his mission report, he just knew it.

Naruko paused when she spotted the chibi standing to the side with a group of people.

"Kid, if you ever want to be a real man, then don't try to get people to back you up on every decision! Stick up for yourself for a change!"

The 'kid' in question was Inari, Tazuna's grandson. He stood up straighter as he looked at the girl in surprise.

"Come on, Uzumaki! We have to deliver this damn head and you're the only one of us who can seal the stupid thing!" complained Kankuro, who was the puppet user. The other female, Temari had a massive fan on her back.

"I'm coming! Keep your make-up on, Kabuki boy!" she snarked.

"FOR THE LAST TIME THIS IS WAR PAINT!"

Unsurprisingly to Kakashi, the bridge was named after Naruko since she was the one to take out Gato. Well, that and she managed to get Inari out of his funk with only a few words and happened to be a descendant of the Uzumaki clan (Kakashi reluctantly confirmed it to Tazuna, which only sealed the deal).

And so, the Great Uzumaki Bridge was formed.

Though that was nothing compared to the Hokage's reaction to where Naruko was.

* * *

"SUNA? She was in Suna this whole time?!" he demanded.

"It appears so. She is already a genin and in a four man team, though she is apparently the leader of the group."

Sarutobi sagged in his seat. His greatest shame, failing Naruko, had finally come to bear on him. At least now he knew exactly where she was...though why she had been in Suna was beyond him.

There was a knock at the door.

"Jounin Hikari here, Hokage-sama," said the girl with glasses.

She was, in fact, the same kidnapper who took Naruko to Suna and negotiated an agreement.

She had also never told this to anyone, and while most people knew of her they barely knew a thing about her.

"Hikari, you were the last to report in when Naruko went missing. Did you see anyone take her to Suna?"

"No one that I could see, and I was in the area at the time," said Hikari. She had taken a mission specifically to be in that area as plausible reason, and since no one had seen exactly who had taken the girl she wasn't under suspicion.

It also helped that she had never made contact with Naruko during her short stay in Konoha.

"Damn... If I ever catch who took her to Suna..." grumbled Sarutobi.

"By the way, what are you doing here right now Hikari?" asked Kakashi.

"Mission report. I was in the area and figured it would be easier to give it to the Hokage directly," said Hikari smoothly.

Actually she knew Naruko had been spotted, and wanted to see the reaction.


	18. Ai Uchiha Chapter One

**_This is one of my many attempts to make a good Hell Girl crossover. Enjoy._**

* * *

The day Ai Uchiha was born was very ordinary, considering it was a ninja village. When Itachi first saw her eyes, he knew. This was no ordinary child. It was her eyes that tipped him off. They knew too much.

Still, he knew that if nothing else he would take care of her. Even though she was younger than Sasuke by a year, he would take care of her.

Ai was five when Itachi moved out. He was seven years older than she was. And he was the only person who could look her in the eyes. Something about her eyes creeped everyone out, even though they should have been used to the red color with their bloodline trait being the same.

A full week after he left the Uchiha mansion, he came back. For her and Sasuke. Even though their father was furious, Itachi calmly told him why he was taking his younger siblings away.

"How can I trust you to take care of them when you are so fixated on me?"

Ai honestly didn't care for her father, though Sasuke still craved any attention from the man. Which is the only reason he stayed in the mansion. Ai went with Itachi without any hesitation.

* * *

_(One year after Ai and Itachi left the Uchiha mansion)_

Ai had started the academy, and was quickly placed with Sasuke. Even with Itachi's help, it was clear she was a class of her own when it came to school. Her scores often outdid Sasuke's, to his ire. Still, he loved his little sister.

His sister loved to read all the scrolls she could get her hands on. Itachi often took her to get more, and she would sometimes share them with Sasuke if he expressed an interest. It was the only reason that the siblings even spoke to one another. Ai kept them together. Even with their father trying to tear them apart by focusing solely on Itachi...and later Sasuke.

So Itachi went out of his way between missions to make Ai feel welcome. For her birthday he bought her a yakuta for the festival in a nearby town. Sasuke tried to go with them, but their father prevented it. Ai still brought him back presents.

Sasuke kept his new goldfish well fed in his room.

* * *

_(One month after Ai and Sasuke managed to create a Grand Fireball...)_

Much to the shock of the Uchiha who still lived in the mansion, Ai created the necessary fireball needed to be considered an adult the same day as her older brother. The only real problem Fujaku Uchiha had with his daughter is that she aimed her fireball at him when she did it.

Now Ai walked around with the fan symbol of the Uchiha proudly displayed on her back. Most days she could be found talking to Naruto, often inciting a debate on Ramen flavors sold at Ichiraku. Some would ask why a Uchiha would bother talking to a boy most avoiding on general principles. Her answer was always the same.

"He's the same as me. An outcast for no other reason than being born."

Naruto often looked to Ai as a little sister. He was even over protective like a brother, so Itachi saw no problem with letting Ai have at least one friend. Even if her best friend happened to be the Kyuubi vessel.

Iruka didn't know what to think about the Uchiha siblings. Sasuke was brilliant, as was Ai, but there was something off about them. Even for ninja. Sasuke was the most normal of the three. Ai was disturbing with her blood-red eyes, but she was very friendly once you looked past that. Itachi was the oldest, and the one everyone looked up to. Yet he always looked frayed, tired, like rubber stretched too thin.

It never helped that the head of the clan pressured him too much for being a genius.

Then things really took a turn when Ai accidentally awakened the bloodline limit of the clan. Her Sharingan awoke without warning when a pair of Hyuga boys were bothering her.

Itachi was both proud and sad at the same time. Proud because Ai had finally proven once and for all that she was a Uchiha in more than name. Sad because of the curse which seemed to follow the eyes. Still, it did serve a purpose. Now Ai was allowed to go into the mansion to borrow from the old library of the clan.

* * *

Ai walked to the ninja wear store intent on getting a new outfit. Her current clothes were worn, but still useable.

She entered the store, and found an outfit she really liked. The only problem was that if she bought it, she wouldn't be able to afford new scrolls for at least a week. She debated on whether it was worth it, then figured she could always raid the ninja academy library for scrolls. There were a few sections she hadn't hit yet.

She walked out smiling...then went home to see Itachi before he went off on another mission.

Itachi took one look at her new outfit and said "What are you wearing?"

"My new outfit. Doesn't it suit me?"

Itachi took a good look at it, and reluctantly admitted that it did. Better than the barely fitting clothes she had on at any rate.

Ai had on a top that was mostly held up by strings around her shoulders, and was just shy of being sleeveless. It had sleeves hanging up from the threads. The shirt was a black color with the Uchiha fan embroidered on the sleeves. Her pants were hidden by a red skirt, which split to allow freer movement. She wore her usual shoes.

All in all the outfit both screamed ninja to shinobi eyes and civilian to regular people. It was something you'd see on an ordinary girl, and was actually perfect for a kunoichi hiding in plain sight.

Since he actually like the outfit, he decided to add something to it. Ai's birthday would be tomorrow, he felt he should give her the present early.

"Hang on a minute Ai."

Itachi went into his room and brought out a little box. He handed it to her, and said "Go ahead an open it. This is your birthday present."

Ai carefully opened the package...and revealed a lovely black emperor butterfly clip for her hair. Itachi helped put it in, and her hair was finally out of her face.

* * *

Ai went to class with her hair in braids. It was a major difference from her usual look. Even the fashion conscious Ino noticed. Sasuke and Naruto quietly asked who did her hair and were surprised to hear it was Itachi's doing. Itachi even promised to teach her a new technique he created as a treat.

As soon as the classes ended, Ai headed home. She had some new scrolls to read later, courtesy of the kind librarian...who for some reason always felt familiar for some reason.

Tsuyu was the nicest librarian in the village. She even treated Naruto sometimes to ramen at Ichiraku. She never once harassed the blond boy, or even treated him like he was a demon. Which is the main reason she liked her.

She also liked the kind old man who worked at the scroll shop. And the nice swordsman who showed her back home the one time she got lost from the Academy.

When she reached the apartment, Itachi was waiting for her. He led her to an isolated spot, and showed her the hand signs for the jutsu he created.

"Dusk Crow Illusion!"

Ai grinned. The name suited her brother's tastes. She copied the signs, and tried it.

"Dusk Crow Illusion!"

She kept at it, but for some reason the crows never formed correctly. Then she thought of something.

"Can I try a different illusion? Instead of crows?"

Itachi thought about it, "I don't see why not. Either way it's the same genjutsu."

Ai formed the hand signs, and said "Twilight Butterfly Illusion!"

This time it worked. Her body split apart into butterflies and surrounded Itachi. He was smiling. Ai finally got the genjutsu to work. And it required jounin level chakra at least. He was proud of his little sister.

"Well done Ai. You made my jutsu your own. Think you could teach it to Sasuke when he finally gets his Sharingan?"

"What about you?"

"I don't know if I'll still be around when that day comes."

Itachi then taught Ai several different jutsu which she copied with her new Sharingan. She was happy...her brother always paid attention to her and Sasuke.

* * *

They watched from afar. The three who served the young miss. She never remembered them of course, since that was their penance. She would never remember how they served her faithfully for over four hundred years of carrying out the karmic sins of mortals.

But they were fine with that. She had been reborn into someone who was actually happy for a change. Even though her name remained the same.

Ai.

They even got along with the young boy who acted like she was his younger sister, instead of his best friend. Because of the way he treated Ai, they treated him the same back. Thanks to the villagers, he visited them often. They liked young Naruto and Sasuke.

It was why Wanyuudo gave them discounts on scrolls to make them stronger.

At least they were able to see their Ojou-sama grow up happy and normally. She never needed to draw upon her old power in this world. Which meant the spider would never again harm their master.

Reincarnation is such a fragile thing after all.

* * *

Itachi woke up that morning, and knew something was wrong. His shinobi senses were going off in a big way. Something bad was going to happen today. Something big.

He saw Ai prepare for class, and handed her a large scroll.

"Ai, why don't you train with Naruto and Sasuke today? I'll deal with father if he asks."

Ai brightened up.

"Really, Onii-chan?"

"In fact, if you can master at least one technique with Sasuke or Naruto by the time you get home, I will treat you all to Ramen and ice cream."

"Arigato, Itachi-nii-chan!"

Itachi's cold feeling grew worse as the day drew on. Apparently his mood was picked up by Anko, because she said "What's with you today? You're acting like Ibiki is about to interrogate you or something."

"Sorry. I've been having a really bad feeling since this morning. Like something really bad and big is going to happen."

"Oh? How big?"

"Can't say. It really worries me though...Enough that I promised Ai that I would take her and the boys to Ichiraku if they managed to perform even one technique by the time I got home."

Anko looked at him.

"That bad? You told your sister you would take Naruto and Sasuke for ramen if they got one technique down? Even with the amount that fox boy eats?!"

"Yeah."

"Would it make you feel better if I sent the ANBU to see if anything is wrong in the village?"

"Send them to the Uchiha estate first. I think that's where it is."

"Does this have anything to do with your cousin's death?"

"No. Shisui's death has nothing to do with this."

* * *

Kakashi was the one sent to the Uchiha estate. And what he saw would haunt his nightmares for weeks.

It was a massacre. Every man, woman and child was brutally killed. He heard a noise in the main house, and rushed to see if he could save anyone.

What happened next was confusing. He saw Itachi, standing over the bodies of his parents, a bloody sword in his hand. His eyes looked like Sharingan, but it wasn't. The tomoe were missing, and three slanted lines were in their place.

"Mangekyo Sharingan."

Kakashi found himself bound to a long table, and tortured by a sword. It lasted long enough that he almost went insane.

The Itachi look-alike vanished into the night.

* * *

Itachi was the one to find Kakashi. He carried Kakashi all the way to the hospital, where the man barely regained consciousness.

He told them everything he saw, including the Itachi look-alike.

It was impossible for Itachi to have killed his clan, as Anko had been with him the entire day, and wouldn't have been able to make an all day shadow clone, since Ai had been with him yesterday. Which meant the killer had been under a henge during the attack.

Then Ai said something that took all suspicion off her brother.

She had seen a man with an orange swirly mask and blood-red eyes near the Uchiha mansion that morning. He had a sword exactly as Kakashi had described.

Which is when Itachi's eyes widened in realization.

"Madara. Madara Uchiha."

Ai recognized the name, since their elders often talked about him as the founder of the clan.

"But he called himself Tobi when I saw him."

"That's how he covers himself. He pretends to be an idiot, when he's really a murderer."

"Why did he take your form?" asked the Hokage.

"He must have wanted Sasuke to arrive home, find the massacre and assume I had killed everyone. He tried to turn him into an avenger."

"Avengers never end well," said Ai.

"What do you want to do, Itachi?"

"Let me take care of Sasuke, Ai and Naruto first."

* * *

Sasuke acted like nothing was wrong as they ate their ramen in peace. Naruto was really happy that Itachi had given Ai that scroll, since it described how to perform an advanced jutsu most Jounin knew. Shadow Clone was easier for him to use compared to the regular clone jutsu.

Ai had a feeling as to what Itachi planned to do now.

That night, Itachi prepared to leave, and Ai woke up in time.

"You're going after him, aren't you."

"I'll be undercover for a long time Ai. But I want you to remember that I would never betray you or Sasuke. Not like that."

"I know."

"Could you stick with Sasuke and Naruto from now on? At least until this is all over?"

"Hai, onii-chan."

Itachi turned, before opening the door.

"I left enough money for you and Sasuke to be able to afford this place. I want you to teach him in my place."

"I'll show him how to use his kekkei genkai when he finally awakens it, Itachi-nii."

"The Hokage knows about this undercover mission. But next time I come to the village won't be so pleasant. Not until it's over."

"I understand."

"Goodbye Ai. I wish I could be there when you finally graduate."

"Goodbye, big brother."

The next morning he was gone.

* * *

Their master had gone through a lot in her last life. But this...this took the cake. Forced to leave the village to protect his younger siblings, Itachi had left Ai and Sasuke almost all alone. But they weren't alone.

Which is why they were now stuck wondering how the hell they were going to survive. Almost every clan in the place wanted to adopt them.

So they sent in Ren to keep the two from being separated.

"We would be happy to take in the two, as Branch members of course..." started Hiashi Hyuga.

Ai glared at him. It was bad enough he treated the only girl she considered her friend like crap. Sasuke was numb once he had been told about the clan.

Ren finally spoke up.

"I can take care of them both. And Naruto if he's willing. There's no reason we should separate the only family they have left."

Ai looked at him, relieved. Sasuke apparently heard this, because he looked at Ren with a bit of calculation. It was well-known in the village that Ren had given up being a ninja to focus on his sword techniques. But that didn't mean that he completely gave up on his ninja life. He still practiced his jutsu along with his old friends. And his mansion was certainly big enough for the three orphans.

The Hokage looked at him. Something about the man always struck him as odd, no matter how normal he appeared. Still, he lived in the middle of the village, next to the ANBU Guard, and he had sufficient means to take care of the children until they could live on their own. It didn't hurt that he had never once been cruel to Naruto or even looked at him coldly.

"It is up to them."

"I don't mind staying with Ren-san."

Sasuke looked at the man, then said "I don't care. I just don't want to be separated from Ai and Naruto."

"It's decided then. Sasuke and Ai Uchiha, along with Naruto Uzumaki will live with Ichimoto Ren and his friends until they become Chunin."

* * *

So that's how it happened. Ai found herself living with the three adults she actually liked and saw on a daily basis, and having a large room with an adjoining bathroom. Naruto and Sasuke were next door to her, while the adults had their own wing.

Ai actually liked the three adults, all of whom she knew by name.

Wanyuudo, the scroll shop owner, who always gave her and her brothers a discount whenever they shopped there. Even Naruto, who was regarded by the village as a demon for some reason.

Tsuyu, the librarian, who gave them interesting scrolls to read and practice.

And Ren, one of the few adults who went out of his way to protect Naruto, even going so far as to challenge other villagers for beating the boy up. Naruto often told them how Ren had not only protected him, but also treated any injuries he had gotten.

Which is the only reason Ai agreed to live with them until they could manage on their own or Itachi came back. That and the dreams which had been haunting her for weeks.

* * *

It was the big day. They had to pass one last test to graduate. Ai was excited to graduate, since it meant that they would be official ninja.

They entered the classroom, and one by one they were called up.

"Uchiha, Ai!"

"Make at least three clones and then a henge."

She gaped at them. That was it? That was what they had a studying binge with Ren and Tsuyu for last night? A clone and a henge?!

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Four perfect copies of Ai stood there in front of the shocked Chunin.

"Henge!"

Then they became four copies of Iruka.

"Pass!"

Ai tied up her hair with her new headband, the leaf symbol proudly displayed on her forehead.

"Uchiha, Sasuke!"

He walked out with a new headband as well, though he tied it the normal way since his hair was too short to braid it into his hair like his sister.

"Uzumaki, Naruto!"

Naruto walked out, a bit shaky but with his head held up high, the headband now resting on his forehead. Ai grinned at him, and he held up a victory sign. They walked out to find Ren waiting.

"Finally made it?"

"Yatta! We're ninja finally!"

"Well as ninja, I suppose that means I have to take you out to eat. How does Ichiraku sound?"

Three cheers erupted from the newly minted genin.

And once again, Naruto amazed Ren with the fact that he almost ate his weight in ramen noodles. Ai ate almost as much as Naruto, though more than Sasuke. Once Ino bothered to ask her why she ate so many high calorie foods, and yet never seemed to gain any pounds.

This question had been asked many times, and she was tired of giving the same answer each time.

"Whatever calories I gain from the food I take out with training."

Which was actually true. Ever since Ren had been practicing his kenjutsu in the garden, Ai and Sasuke had taken an interest in swords. So Ren was teaching them how to weild a sword properly. Right now Ai kicked her older brother's ass in practice, to his amusement.

The next day they took their ninja license photos, and then met their instructor the day after.

Ai knew full well what Naruto planned. She decided to wear an outfit Tsuyu got her just for the occasion. She even pinned up her hair using her new headband to hold it up. Sasuke went up to the designated spot after just brushing his hair and strapping his new sword on properly.

* * *

Naruto was called up by the Hokage an hour later, and told to retake his photo. Then he spent the day with the old man's grandson Konohamaru.

Ai spent the day preparing to deal with the secondary test which was going to happen in two days. She had a new sword, from Ren. It felt oddly familiar to her, like the adults did. Her dreams had been stranger of late as well.

Why did she dream of being someone called Enma Ai? Or a hotline which sent people to hell on request at the cost of two souls? Either way she had taken to wearing an odd symbol on the opposite sleeve with her Uchiha fan.

The sight of which always gave the three adults nostalgic looks in their eyes.

The next day they met their instructor, Kakashi Hatake, whom Ai recognized on sight.

"You're the ANBU they sent into the estate that day."

Kakashi nodded and they went to the roof.

"Name, likes, dislikes and dreams."

"You want to start this all off?" said Sasuke, annoyed. Even if he did approve of Naruto and Ai's prank, it didn't mean he still wasn't pissed about being left waiting for three damn hours in that uncomfortable chair!

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I have no particular likes or dislikes and I don't intend to share my dreams with you."

Ai snorted.

He looked at her.

"You have something to add?"

She looked right at him.

"Kakashi Hatake, mid twenties, has a well-known addiction to the Icha Icha series and owns at least seven dogs of varying breeds. Your known dislikes are the thousand years of death, Maito Gai and apparently arriving on time. No known dream to date."

They stared at her.

"I asked Iruka about you when I recognized your name."

"You first blondie."

"Naruto Uzumaki! I love ramen, frogs, and my two best friends Ai and Sasuke. I dislike spiders, hypocrites and the time it takes for ramen to be ready. My dream is...to be the next Hokage and get everyone to respect me!"

Kakashi looked at Ai.

"Ai Uchiha. I love my brothers, swords, learning new jutsu, reading and butterflies. My dislikes are spiders, people who think I'm abnormal because my eyes happen to be red, and Maito Gai. My dream is to one day learn why my family became a pack of morons because of some doujutsu."

"Sasuke Uchiha. I like my brothers and little sister, swords, snakes and large shuriken. My dislikes are the eyesore known as Maito Gai and spiders. I want to one day prove to my older brother that I am a better ninja than him."

Kakashi was surprised. He had originally thought that the ice prince of Konoha would become an avenger, but clearly Ai and Naruto had changed that.

He did wonder why they all hated spiders though.

"Meet me at the memorial stone tomorrow morning. Oh, and don't eat breakfast or you'll puke."

* * *

Ai apparently knew Kakashi better than he realized, because they showed up fifteen minutes before he did. And he only knew that because he had arrived two hours late and waited an hour to see their reactions to his tardiness. He had to say he was both impressed and more than a little annoyed.

"You're late. All of you."

Ai smirked at him.

"I talk to Anko-nee all the time. When she heard your name mentioned as our instructor she happened to tell me you're usually three hours late at the least."

He was so dying her torture supplies a perky yellow. She abhorred yellow with a passion. Why, he had no idea, but it made pranking her hilarious.

Ai took one look at his eye and said "You're planning to prank someone aren't you."

Kakashi coughed.

"Alright, here's the deal. You have an hour to take these two bells from me. You may use any jutsu or weapon at your disposal. You had best come ready to kill me or you won't succeed."

Naruto looked like he wanted to whine, but he saw Ai's look. He kept quiet. They broke apart as soon as he gave the signal.

Much to his surprise, it wasn't Naruto who actually confronted him first, but the sole female of the group Ai.

"And here I thought the village loudmouth would be the first to attack me."

Ai glared at him. Sure Naruto was loud but the way he said it was just plain rude. Then she smirked evilly, and he felt a chill go down his spine.

"NOW!"

Dust flew from out of nowhere, and Ai poofed. Apparently she had been a clone the entire time.

Now why did he feel itchy all of a sudden? And why in the nine hells was the itch problem growing worse?!

Soon he was in an all out fit itching all over. It was driving him nuts. So much so in fact that he never noticed the blond and raven haired boys duck, grab and escape with the bells. Or when the brat who told them when grabbed something he never noticed was missing until later.

When the alarm went off, he found both boys smirking with bells in their hands, and Ai between them, looking very smug.

It took him all of an hour to figure out he had to take a swim in the water to get rid of the itching powder. And another fifteen minutes to curse out the brats who hit him with it. He was really freaking out when he went to check his book to insure it hadn't gotten wet.

"So do we all pass, sensei?"

"Yes, you all pass. The object of this test was to check your teamwork. And you three are the first genin I've had who even bothered to figure that out."

Naruto looked smug about something.

"We didn't. Ai just suggested we do something to make sure we all passed no matter what."

He got a sudden inkling as to where his book went to.

"What?"

"Blackmail. Ai is very good at fire jutsu sensei..." smirked Sasuke.

He gulped. Surely they didn't mean...?

Ai held up a certain book, and a lighter. He just barely kept the girlish scream of horror from coming out of his mouth. Still, he did manage to get it back...or so he thought.

* * *

Anko was on the floor laughing her ass off when Ai told her what they had done to Kakashi. Especially when she gave the purple haired jounin the book in question, and warned her that Kakashi looked like he was going to prank her later for warning Ai about the chronic lateness.

Anko gave her favorite kunoichi genin two thousand ryo to blow, preferably not on her brother and his ramen addiction, for both information and the book. (She later gave her another fifty thousand for helping her get Ibiki to choke on his sake from laughing so hard.)

Kakashi had no idea what Ai did with his 'precious' (think Gollum from _Lord of the Rings_ and you'll get the idea) but he damn well better get it back soon!

Why was Anko giving him that look? And what the hell was in her hands?!

Anko was holding his precious copy of the first edition of Icha Icha, volume one, signed and autographed by Jiraiya himself!

Oh...dear...kami. That little bitch gave his book to Anko! She was so going down for this if it was the last thing he did!

He had no idea Ibiki even owned a camcorder. Or was around the hall videotaping him begging and pleading with the crazed snake bitch of the T and I department for his book.

Damn that scarred bastard for making copies and selling it. And damn him twice for giving a free copy to the Hokage and Gai!

* * *

Ai was official the scapegoat for Kakashi. He kept blaming her for any mission failed...which was only once.

Still, Ai had more fun than she let on. Torturing Kakashi was hilarious, as he turned very interesting colors when she brought up the video Ibiki had made. Naruto and Sasuke often joined her. It was just too damn funny!

Although catching Tora was annoying the first time around. Second time, Ai was pissed at the cat and she was an animal lover. But the third time they caught it and it scratched the hell out of her, she had enough.

So here they were, after the hell beast known as Tora. It was hiding in the forest, mostly devoid of life since the animals sensed Ai's mood. It was quiet...except for the whispers of Ai and Sasuke. Naruto was busy placing exploding tags around the perimeter. When he was done, (and his clone had become too annoying for Kakashi to handle) Ai and Sasuke hit the tags with their katon jutsu.

Tora was found by Ai five minutes later hiding under a rock which was scorched. She whispered something in it's ear, and it started trembling.

Ever since that fateful morning their time in catching the cat had improved by leaps and bounds. No sooner had Ai stepped out then the cat jumps into Kakashi's arms. Which is why they took at least two other D rank missions if they were assigned Tora capture.

Kakashi still wanted to strangle Ai. Unfortunately Ren usually appeared before he could follow through on the urge.


	19. Child of Lightning, Daughter of Tide ONE

There are many things one takes for granted. Our family, our friends...our very existence.

For Fate Testarossa, her very being, everything about her, had never been put into question. That is until her mother finally went off the deep end and tried to bring back her true daughter Alicia. It was after the event in the Garden that Fate found a book that would shake her even more than her mother's betrayal.

* * *

**_October fifth..._**

_It has been three years since Alicia was put into a coma, and still I have not found a cure. I have decided to take a break in Non Administrative World #109 in the hopes of allowing my mind a chance to think of something new._

_I have spent five hours here, and I have to say...this is the most uncivilized world I have ever had the misfortune to come across. They train children to kill and those that do not pass their exams have their magic bound. Furthermore I have rescued a young girl who the people of the village I am visiting have tried to kill, twice._

_The girl bears a startling resemblance to my beloved Alicia, and I cannot help but to think that this is fate._

_It it to this end that I have named the girl Fate, and have decided to adopt her as my own._

* * *

_**April eighteenth...**the girl takes to the glamor I have placed on her to hide her original eye color and the strange whisker marks so well that I can only assume she is a natural at transformation magic._

_I have turned my pet cat Linith into a familiar so that she can train the girl._

* * *

_**November fifth...** The girl now bears a very disconcerting resemblance to Alicia. I can feel my mind slipping every passing day, and I can only hope that I can awaken Alicia before it does._

* * *

_**January third...** the girl who now reminds me of Alicia now seems to taunt me with my daughter's looks, but she misses all the little things that Alicia had. She is ambidextrous, yet she uses her right hand instead of her left like Alicia. And there is the matter of her linker core, which is far stronger than Alicia's ever was._

_I am starting to hate this girl, Fate, for looking so much like my precious Alicia, yet being so different. The rate she picks up magic is abnormal._

* * *

_**May thirty-first...** I hate this girl who looks like Alicia but isn't. I have found a way to bring MY daughter back, even if it means that this child Fate must die to accomplish it. I will have Alicia back if it means my own death._

* * *

The journal stopped right before Fate began the hunt for Jewel Seeds. Fate was crying after she read the journal her mother had kept since Alicia's death.

She was never born of a test tube, she had been taken from her world when she was still a baby without anyone even knowing.

"Captain Lindy...we did a scan on Ms. Testarossa as you requested and well... You're going to want a look at this," said Mary.

_**Name: Fate Testarossa**_

_**Age: 10**_

_**Gender: Female**_

_**Mage Rank: X Class...**_

"This can't be right."

"We did the linker core scan five times. Every time it came up X class. There's more than that...according to the deep scan, she had a second familiar, though one is still inactive," said Mary.

"Get a scan done to determine what the other familiar is."

An hour later, Mary came back with another report.

"Here it is ma'am."

_**Report on the familiars of one Testarossa Fate:**_

_**Active: One Mid-Childan Wolf familiar named Aruf.**_

_**Inactive: One level 99 High-Demonic class Kitsune named Rikudo Kurama, sealed.**_

_**Note: second familiar appears to be bound inside the Mage in question under a god-class seal. Second familiar appears to be adding to the mage's linker core over a long period of time. Removal has high chance of fatality.**_

"How in the world did she get a level 99 Demonic class familiar sealed inside her?" said Lindy.

"According to this, it was sealed within hours of her birth. There's also a glamour spell on her that seems to be unraveling since Presea's death."

"Glamour?" said Lindy.

"It's a low level one, and it won't hold by the time we get to Mid-Childa."

"Let's see what Fate has to say. Perhaps she knows what's going on," said Lindy.

* * *

Fate looked numb. She had reread the journal three times before she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Fate?" asked Lindy carefully.

"Yes Captain Lindy?" asked Fate.

"Fate, when we did the scan, we found a few things. Do you know what was sealed inside of you?" asked Lindy.

Fate handed her the journal.

"Aruf found that on the way out of the Garden," said Fate in a dead tone.

Lindy took the journal and returned fifteen minutes later having read the part where Presea admitted to taking a girl from an NAW they had limited connection with.

Mostly because of the High-Level demon activity found on it.

With this new information, Lindy was able to plead off some of the harsher sentences some of the older Admirals wanted to put on Fate. The girl had Stockholm syndrome, which meant she wasn't entirely to blame for her actions.

Perhaps once the trial was over, they could find the village she was taken from so she could find her family.

Well, maybe after Fate got to see Nanoha again. Lindy could tell it would take a lot of therapy before Fate could act normally again.

* * *

Fate was numb, and Aruf didn't like it. Whatever had been in that journal had shook her master to her core. They were halfway to the communications area when she noticed something.

"Fate...are those whiskers?" asked Aruf.

"Huh?" she felt her fact, but there was nothing unusual there. Aruf gasped in shock. Where Fate's wine-red colored eyes had been, were now deep sapphires that were slitted slightly and were almost cat-like. Aside from that, she was still the same.

"Fate, what are you... Ah, so the glamour we found when we did that scan finally fell," said Chrono.

"Glamor?" said Fate numbly.

"It's seems Presea placed some sort of glamour on your face and eyes to make you more like Alicia. With her death, it finally fell on it's own," explained Chrono.

"So...this is what Fate really looks like?" asked Aruf.

"From what we can gather, yes. Fate has something called Stockholm Syndrome, which means she relates to the one who kidnapped her. So much so that she makes excuses for Presea, despite the abuse that she's gone through. There are people who can help you overcome this, Fate," said Chrono flatly.

At least he didn't sugar coat the truth. He told her what was happening to her, and why.

Fate walked into the conference room and noted that none of the admirals were surprised by her new appearance. With that to bolster her confidence, they went back to the trial.

* * *

Fate was in her room, as the scans had shown her second familiar was bound inside her. Lindy wanted her to make contact with the second one to figure out what was going on. Ever since the glamour fell, Fate's control had been shot. Even Aruf had complained about it.

So here she was, meditating like she used to when she was a child.

She opened her eyes to find herself in the world where Alicia had lived. It was daytime and she was in a field.

Laying on the grass snoring was a massive nine-tailed demon fox. It was chained to the ground, which didn't look comfortable at all.

It opened a single red eye and snorted.

"_**Finally found out about me eh? Let's get this over with."**_

"Who are you?"

"_**I am the great Nine-Tailed Demon Fox! Bane of the Uchiha and one who nearly destroyed Konoha! Greatest of the Nine Tailed demons!"**_

"That's great and all, but what does it have to do with why you're inside me?" asked Fate flatly.

The fox grumbled at her lack of reaction, but then again she hadn't been raised in Konoha and was used to monsters. His ego could take the hit so long as she agreed to help him out of the accursed seal.

"_**To be blunt girlie, I was forced into attacking Konoha but someone I absolutely hate and your father sealed me inside of you to stop my rampage. Your mother gave her life to insure that you survived when I realized what was happening."**_

"How cruel! Who would force a creature such as yourself to hurt others?" asked Fate.

"_**Madara Uchiha. The bastard is older than dirt yet he continues to possess others in order to stay alive. But there is a way to get one over him and the villagers who have hated you since I was sealed inside of you,"**_ said the Fox.

"What did you have in mind?" asked Fate.

"_**You will need to loosen certain parts of this seal around me so that I can take physical form outside it. The bulk of my chakra, or magic as you call it, will remain in the seal but my true self will be allowed out,"**_ said the Fox.

"How do I do that? Captain Lindy said that if I released you I would be killed," said Fate.

"_**Not if you properly bind me as your familiar, like you did the wolf. Creating a familiar contract will give me the chance to be free of this seal and walk around outside, even if my power will be diminished by the bond. Only you can increase my reserves once this is done. To be blunt girlie, I don't like being bound to a human, let alone the child of the one who sealed me and my previous container. However the thought of getting out of your head would more than make up for the indignity of being your familiar,"**_ said the Fox flatly.

"And this won't kill me in the doing?" asked Fate.

"_**The seal only prevents direct manipulation by me or my kind, and it has fail safes to keep you from opening it too far. There is also a fail safe in case you use up to eight of my tails, each which come with it's own danger. However this seal doesn't cover a familiar contract. The chances of me killing you while being converted to physical form are so remote it's almost not worth noting,"**_ said the Fox.

"Do you have a name?"

"_**My name...is Rikudo Kurama, greatest of all the Nine Bijuu."**_

"I look forward to working with you, Riku-san," said Fate.

Beneath her feet was her magic circle. A second circle appeared under the fox, who was easily as large as the Arthra. And that was without his tails, which were as long as the cannon of the Arthra.

"You are going to get smaller aren't you? I don't think you would fit on the ship otherwise," asked Fate.

"_**Once the contract is complete, I'll shrink. Like I said, you'll be in control of MY power output, as galling as that is."**_

Fate cast the spell, and Riku began to shrink in on himself. There was a bright flash of red and gold light, and she woke up.

* * *

Fate felt something furry around her, and looked down. There, on her leg, was a long crimson red tail that felt like fire, only it didn't burn. She turned her head to the right, and found a long rabbit-like ear on her shoulder.

"_Good, it worked. You have no idea how restrictive that seal is,"_ yawned the fox.

The door opened and a concerned looking Chrono came in. He had been closest to her room.

"Fate, what was that massive... Who is that?"

"Ano..."

"_My name, brat, is Riku. I am the one who was sealed inside Fate when she was barely a few hours old,"_ yawned Riku.

He could live with the demeaning nickname so long as it meant no one could control him. A demon's true name could control them far more thoroughly than a fully upgraded Sharingan could ever hope to. Even half of his true name could harm him if used right.

Being called Riku, however, was harmless enough that he could use it.

"So this is the demonic-class familiar we found in that scan. You say your name is Riku?"

"_It's a nickname I find acceptable,"_ said Riku bored.

"I thought Riku would be easier to remember than his full name, which I don't want to say for obvious reasons," said Fate.

"Very well then. Riku-san, I can only guess you know more about who Fate is than we do at this point?"

"_Considering her birth parents and all their knowledge was in the seal with me since the beginning? Yes. I allowed Presea to place that glamor on her in the event she went back to our homeworld. If she is found, she would be in great danger."_

"Why is that?" asked Lindy. Behind her was a single screen with an Admiral who was very interested in sponsoring Fate after the trial.

"_Fate's birth name was Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze of Konohagakure, as well as the last surviving Princess of Whirlpool which was destroyed in the Third Shinobi War. When she was born, a man came and destroyed the seal which her mother had to hold me at bay and released me. Afterwords he forced me to destroy Konoha, when her father showed up and sealed me inside of Fate. Because of her status as Jinchuriki, the villagers hated her and her very existence. Presea couldn't have chosen a better time to kidnap her,"_ said Riku.

"And the abuse Fate-chan suffered in her care?" asked Lindy coldly. Fate winced.

"_Presea did less damage than the village would have. While she was abusive, she at least acknowledged Fate's existence enough to look at her. The villagers in Konoha hated me for the damage I wrought, and they would have turned that hate onto Fate early on. Very few people would have saw past the seal to see Fate for herself. Yes, she was abused, but that was better than the alternative,"_ said Riku flatly. He had seen the really early years, and knew that things wouldn't have ended well.

"How is abuse better than the alternative?" demanded Lindy. She still couldn't forgive Presea.

"_Fate had someone to care for her in the forms of Linith and Aruf. She was given food, proper instruction, and a way to defend herself with Bardiche. What you seem to fail in understanding, Captain Lindy, was that by the time Fate was a year old the villagers had tried to kill her nearly fifty times alone. Presea may have been cruel and abusive, but she never tried to kill Fate from neglect or hate. And while the abuse was rather painful, it was still better than allowing Fate to grow up shunned, hated and ignored. Can you imagine what that sort of environment could do to a child who has no idea what they have done to deserve that treatment?" _asked Riku, staring at Lindy in the eye.

Lindy quit bristling in her chair. While she could never forgive Presea for abusing Fate, the picture Riku painted could have been even worse.

Most children couldn't handle that sort of strain.

"So what happens now?"

"_I will become Fate's second familiar. She controls my power since I am still partially bound to her seal. However thanks to the familiar bond I can come and go from it at will, meaning I can boost her power if the need arises,"_ said Riku.

"Well since you weren't technically involved in the Jewel Seed incident, you can keep me company during the trial. Sound fair?" said Lindy.

"_You're the one with the bonsai in your room, right? Let me nap in there and you have a deal,"_ said Riku. He hated the smell of machines.


	20. Child of Lightning, Daughter of Tides 2

Aruf didn't know whether to glare or jump the fox familiar. On one hand, Riku had literally been with Fate since the beginning and had done his best to protect her. On the other, she was senior familiar.

Then there was clear scent of Alpha that rolled off Riku in waves. It drove Aruf wild!

"_Little wolf, don't even think about it,"_ growled Riku. He caught the scent of interest from Aruf, and while she was less irritating than a cat he wasn't in the mood.

Fate walked out of the trial. Today was the last day and she was exhausted. She collapsed on the bed, taking a nice long nap.

She awoke to someone banging on the door, and found Yuuno looking shocked and worried.

"There's an Area Barrier around where Nanoha lives!"

Fate grabbed Bardiche and headed to the teleportation dock, where Riku and Aruf were already waiting.

They were gone as soon as they got close enough to Earth.

While Fate and Aruf were dealing with the Knights, Riku looked for something else.

A long time ago, shortly after they were split into nine from ten, there was a book the Rikudo Sage used to store jutsu. It was called the Tome of the Night Sky.

He recognized the magical signature of these knights, and knew they had to be apart of that book.

He found a woman in green with the book and landed.

"_So, the Tome of the Night Sky appears right after I regain my freedom. How ironic,"_ said Riku.

"Who are you? What are you talking about?" she said in shock.

"_The book in your hands. I recognize it from when my last Master used it. It is the Tome of the Night Sky is it not?"_

"You are not getting the Book of Darkness!" said the woman terrified. The thought of the TSAB getting the book at this point was nothing short of catastrophic!

Riku sensed something was wrong...which was why he did this.

"_**Activate Guardian's Rights, Bijuu form,"**_ he said clearly. A familiar circle appeared, to the shock of the woman. A third voice was heard, one Shamal only vaguely recognized as that of the book.

"**It is good to hear your voice again, Rikudo. And on a foreign world no less."**

"_It is good to see you again, Tome of the Night Sky. Why do they call you Book of Darkness?"_

"**At some point the Defense program was damaged and one of the more foolish masters installed a reincarnation program. It causes the book to go berserk once complete, killing the current master each time. Last time it destroyed one of the TSAB ships when it went out of control,"** said Night.

"_At this rate you'll be destroyed. In any event, mind returning my armor to me? My current master has forgotten to provide any because she was so busy,"_ asked Riku.

The circle around him expanded to reveal his human form. In human terms he was rather handsome, but that was to be expected of a Kitsune. His nine tails waved in the non-existent wind as he gained what could only be Belkan armor, only it was more shinobi-like than normal armor was. It was clearly built for speed and power rather than defense. His red hair and crimson eyes could only draw attention from females.

"What are you going to do?" asked the woman terrified. She was the healer, not a fighter like the others!

"_Not my problem. I only tagged along to get my armor back when I realized what you had with you. So long as you don't try to kill Fate, I could care less. I am a DEMON after all,"_ said Riku bored.

The barrier broke with a beam of pink light, and Riku was the first to catch the girl from falling on the ground. The woman in green had absorbed her linker core, or chakra core as Riku knew of it. He had only left the ship because it was slowly driving him insane to be in it. Fate had never asked him to fight after all.

Fate looked rather annoyed with Riku because he hadn't stopped the woman in green. At least until he pointed out that she had never said who they were supposed to be protecting in the first place, and that he had other plans when he saw that book.

Finding out the Book of Darkness, or Tome of the Night Sky as Riku insisted on calling it, was in fact badly corrupted and needed some major repairs had come as a shock.

Learning the fox demon had been in contact with it when he was still young and even had armor loaded in it, more so.

Still, if Riku could capture the book, he could use his limited rights to get it fixed before it went out of control again. Unlike the guardians, his access to the book wasn't being restricted by the reincarnation and defense programs, because he had been around before it had been corrupted. The darkness of the book had never touched his access to it, deeming it unlikely that he would reappear again.

And Riku happened to know the location of the best place to get the book repaired without involving the TSAB.

The Saint Kaiser Church, the only place where the Belkan style was practiced like it should be. He only knew about it because he spoke limited Belkan, which had gotten on the good side of the woman in charge.

* * *

Now that they were to be stationed on Earth until the Arthra finished repairs, Riku had a chance to train Fate as a shinobi. Thanks to him, she had an active chakra core lying dormant under her magical one.

Nanoha wasn't cleared for magic use, but what they couldn't scan was chakra use. Her chakra core was still there, just dormant. It was almost as strong as her linker core, and he put her about chunin to low jounin level at least.

Plus it would give her magic a rest. Riku could tell she was overworking it for some reason.

"Ano, Riku-san, what sort of training is this?" asked Nanoha.

"_The sort Fate should have been getting a long time ago, if Presea hadn't interfered. While it was good for her emotional development, it was bad for her development as a warrior and fighter,"_ explained Riku.

Nanoha had taken the addition of Riku to their group fairly well, once his presence had been explained. The fact he was willing to train them had only improved her attitude towards him.

"_Our first exercise will fully wake up your chakra cores. Unlike your linker core, this core feeds off both your physical and mental health. It also comes with elemental affinities specific to each person,"_ said Riku.

As he walked them through the steps, he realized that Nanoha was a natural when it came to fighting and energy. He believed that it was because she was from a warrior bloodline. They quickly graduated to the basics of jutsu, namely the henge.

Unsurprisingly to Riku, Fate was a natural at transformation. This was one of his few gifts granted to his containers. Nanoha had some difficulty with it.

* * *

Riku was overseeing their development as shinobi. In the past week, they had progressed quickly. This was likely because they were so eager to learn and already used to manipulating energy. He was glad that their Devices were currently being repaired, because it kept them from making any bad habits.

He knew what drove them to the lengths they went to. Nanoha wanted to become stronger, and this was a way to keep her occupied without straining her recovering Linker Core. Her chakra core was well rested and ready to be used, she just didn't know how to access it properly.

Fate, on the other hand, knew that once she was ready and this whole mess was over with, that they would be taking a trip to her home world. This was because they were hoping to find her family. If not, Captain Lindy had already started the paperwork to adopt her.

Personally Riku thought she should just adopt Fate and then take her to the village. Much less headache that way. He could hear Minato's ghostly voice agreeing wholeheartedly.

While Fate couldn't hear them unless the seal was in danger of being destroyed, Riku could hear both just fine.

He said as much to Lindy when he saw her at dinner.

"_Stop! Nanoha, that jutsu is still beyond your skill level at the moment. I want you both to take day off tomorrow, no excuses. I do know how to bind you from using chakra or magic if I have to,"_ said Riku. Nanoha made a face.

The last time she took a day off, a giant tree nearly destroyed the city!

Riku looked directly at Nanoha.

"_Nanoha-san, I spoke to Raising Heart. I will have you locked out for two days if you don't take a break. Training extensively is fine, but if you don't take time off occasionally, then your core will fracture and you'll never fly again. How would you like to be stuck on the ground while your friends are fighting?"_ he asked.

Nanoha winced.

"What about Fate-chan?" asked Nanoha, wondering why he didn't threaten her with that.

"_Unlike you, Fate has a much larger chakra core, and only requires a few hours rest to be back at peak strength, because I am sealed inside of her. There is also her clan's bloodline, which includes a much more advanced regeneration and healing factor, among other things,"_ said Riku flatly.

"Fate-chan had a clan?" asked Nanoha in shock.

"_Two, to be exact. The most notable in past years was the Uzumaki clan, who were well known for their bright red hair and ability with seals. To their close friends, they had other abilities, namely chains that could manifest through chakra and their fast regeneration ability. In Fate's case, her healing factor is so high that if she lost a limb or heaven forbid an eye, it would grow back within a matter of days, if not a week,"_ said Riku.

"It's that high?" said Fate in shock.

"_Haven't you ever wondered why the scars on your back are so minimal that you would have to actually look for them in order for them to be seen? Or why you've never built up calluses on your hands from using Bardiche so often?"_

Fate looked at her hands. Now that he mentioned it, it was odd that she didn't have any calluses from handling Bardiche so often in battle. Yet her hands never hurt from it.

"_In any case, your healing factor is boosted because of my presence in the seal. You are still banned from any practice tomorrow and the day after. You both need time to heal,"_ said Riku.

Nanoha reluctantly took a day off after Riku spoke to her parents about her overworking herself. Which was why both her and Fate went to an amusement part for the weekend.

* * *

During that time, Riku took a nice long nap inside the seal, mostly to avoid Aruf. Her advances had ceased to be amusing and had quickly become irritating. He knew what drove her to him...his aura as an Alpha appealed to her nature, and his kitsune pheromones drove her wild. There was also the fact he was stronger, more experienced, and powerful.

Wolves naturally went to the strongest in the pack when it came to mates. And the fact both of them were canines, albeit different types, didn't help either.

Which was why he had taken to sleeping inside the seal. With the familiar contract now active, the chains were less restrictive around him.

Apparently Kushina was pleased he was doing something to help her daughter. He was just glad that Fate's mind was so easy to sleep in, compared to the sewer it might have become had she stayed as Naruko.

Nanoha and Fate went to the lab to retrieve their Devices, which were finally repaired. The two had come a long way as shinobi, as they could now use the switching technique.

Fate found it amusing to switch herself with Chrono when he wasn't expecting it. Lindy kept giggling whenever she did it too.

Riku was waiting for a bit more before he taught them how to make shadow clones. It would be interesting to see how a clone would mix with their devices.

The alarm went off, as the Wolkenritter had returned.

Riku was told to stay in the seal, since his association might be called into question because of his past experience with the Book itself.

He translated that order into: "Fate doesn't need you, go take a nice long nap."

He felt the connection to Bardiche kick in, but it just glanced on his magical core. At most it just barely tickled, since he was a familiar now instead of being bound inside Fate. Unless she used chakra, there was little he could do to help.

Because the master was on a world where chakra wasn't prevalent, it was unlikely absorbing Fate would do much aside from steal her spells.

But just in case he planned to be out of her along with her parents if they captured her.

He could tell the difference in Fate's magic the second Bardiche started up. Learning how to use Belkan style would only be beneficial in the long run, considering how closely it matched shinobi fighting. He yawned, and went back to sleep.

* * *

"Fate-chan I have news," said Lindy.

"Hai, Lindy-taicho?"

"We've found your home world. Just as Riku-san warned us, the people of Konoha hate the Fox spirit inside of you. And records show that your parents, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki are dead, with no known relatives in the Land of Fire," said Lindy.

She turned to Fate.

"The offer still stands, Fate-chan."

Fate had thought long and hard about this. With confirmation of Riku's dire warnings if she had stayed there, she had little options left. The village likely would turn her into a weapon because of the Fox, or try to kill her. Or she could make a life here with the Harloawn family.

"I think...I would rather be adopted by you than let someone who just wants to use me," said Fate finally.

Lindy smiled at her and brought out the paperwork. She signed it and had it put into the next shipment to Mid-Childa.

Most of the work had already been filled and signed, but she needed to hear Fate's opinion before it was finalized. Within a week, she would become Lindy's daughter legally.

What Riku neglected to tell them was that by adopting Fate, she was essentially flipping off the village elders, who were always fun to anger. Kushina couldn't wait to see their looks when they found out she was effectively out of their reach.

Plus there was the fact that they couldn't take Bardiche from her, and she could manifest Riku out to scare people.

Riku felt the linker core being drained from his spot next to Amy. Fortunately he had the spells of Kushina and Minato inside him, so they couldn't be drained.

Once Fate woke up, Riku started to train her for real along with Nanoha. Since they had been absorbed once, the chances of them being targeted twice were next to zero.

Her chakra core had been untouched, to his relief. It seemed their opponent really was operating on a strictly magic based attack.

Only time would tell whether or not they would be able to stop this Device before it went out of control.


	21. Lina Uzumaki Chapter One

It was a peaceful day when she returned to her home village. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, the genin were training, the ANBU were screaming bloody murder...

Wait, what?

She paused, and wondered who was up to trouble. Mostly to see if she would join in. She couldn't wait to see the look on the old man's face when he realized that _SHE_ had returned. The last time she was in town, her sister had gotten married to the newly instated Fourth Hokage.

The screams of horror after she beat Jiraiya _and_ Tsunade in a drinking match still brought a smile to her face.

This time she was bringing a friend. A rather misinformed blond who believed she was some damsel in distress and had proclaimed to be her bodyguard. She had kept him around solely because he was one of the few people who could keep up with her at the dinner table.

She went to see where the chaos was...and found something that caused her blood to run cold.

A pack of civilians were beating up a small child, who barely appeared to be three. She growled, and shot a Fireball at them. They scattered rather quickly in the face of her anger.

The poor kid was cut and bruised but he would live. He had the same shade of hair as her so-called bodyguard, and the same eyes. The only thing that convinced her that the kid wasn't some illegitimate offspring of the guy were the whisker marks.

The kid slowly uncurled once he realized she wasn't going to hit or kick him. The fact that he knew to curl up like that spoke volumes.

"Kid, where are your parents?"

"Don't got any."

She took a look around, and noted that most of the civilians were giving the kid the dirty look. Like he was something smelly they had stepped in.

"Right... Why don't you come with me and I'll treat ya to some ramen?"

The kid perked up at the word ramen.

"From Ichiraku's?" he asked hopefully.

She laughed, and picked the kid up. He didn't protest, but rather curled into her side. Clearly he was starved for positive attention.

She went straight to the Hokage's office, her bodyguard staying close behind her.

* * *

Sarutobi took one look at her, and winced. He had hoped that the rumors she was back were just that. They he realized who the child was in her arms.

He sighed.

"Not again. I had hoped the civilians would learn to leave you alone Naruto."

Naruto mumbled something, and curled closer to her.

"You know this kid Sarutobi-sama?"

"You should have recognized him yourself Lina. He's your nephew."

Her face turned cold.

"Where is my sister and that baka husband of hers?"

"Dead. Fighting the nine-tailed fox."

"Right...Naruto, why don't you hang out with jellyfish for brains while I talk to the old geezer here?"

"Who?"

She nodded to her companion and Naruto giggled. The two quickly started a conversation on ramen flavors.

"Right, start talking."

"Kushina died helping Minato seal Kyuubi in Naruto. Minato used a forbidden jutsu that required his life in order to use. He doesn't know his parents, or the fact that the Fox is inside him. Civilians seem to target him simply because of that fact."

She sighed. Trust her sister to die protecting her child.

"You know this means I'll be stuck in the village, don't you?"

The Hokage winced. While it would mean Naruto would no longer be alone, the sheer damage Lina Uzumaki-Inverse caused when angered almost made his head hurt.

"I'll take Naruto in. Has anyone bought my sister's old place?"

"No. I'll give you an advance on one condition..."

"What?"

"No spells until Naruto goes into the Academy. I don't want him using them on the civilians."

She smirked, and he had a sense of foreboding doom.

"Don't need one. I've been robbing bandits for the past six years."

He looked at her, then reached into his drawer and took out a sake bottle. It seemed her reputation had been earned, rather than made up by her.

He wondered what the council would do once they realized the 'Enemy of All Who Lived' was back in town. And had plans to stay! Then he had an evil, spiteful idea.

"Would you be interested in formally announcing your return?"

"Why?" she asked in suspicion.

"So I can watch the blood drain from the face of the council when they realized exactly who Naruto is related to, and the fact that you intend to stay."

She looked at him, and cackled evilly.

"Old man, you have a deal! Bring a camera!" she smirked.

* * *

Naruto was bouncing off the walls when he learned that not only was Lina his aunt, but she was taking him in! He was so excited that he had to tell his only friend his age.

Shino Aburame.

Lina shivered. While she could respect the Aburame clan, some of them actually had spiders in their hives. She disliked spiders and absolutely loathed squids.

Shino, however, didn't have any spiders in his hive. So she told him that he could visit once the house was cleaned.

Naruto practically bounced the entire way there. He was so excited about living with his aunt.

* * *

Lina took one look at the house, and sneezed. The dust was horrific! Then she had an idea that appealed to her greatly. She hated cleaning unless she absolutely had to (or she was being overpaid to do it), so why not have a newly minted genin team do it? She immediately removed most of the breakable things, and anything that would indicate who had lived there before. Naruto helped her pack most of it.

Then she went to the mission desk and wrote up the task she wanted them to do. The pay was slightly higher than what they would normally get for the task, but the sad fact was that she barely knew how to clean. It was one of the reasons she had become a jounin who went on a lot of training missions outside the village.

The next morning a young genin team arrived, and found the cleaning tools waiting. They were resigned to this boring task while Lina chatted up their jounin instructor.

Gourry, her friend/bodyguard, was out with Naruto buying food. Gourry would buy the food and then have Naruto help him carry it.

By the end of the day, the genin were exhausted. They honestly felt like they were being under paid for the sheer amount of cleaning they had to do.

Which was why Lina rewarded each of them with two jounin level scroll that they could keep. Her talk with their sensei had given her the right types to buy. Their complaints were promptly dropped, since the ones she had given them were rather expensive for new genins.

She had some of the Chunin help her move the new fridge in, since the old one had burnt out a few years ago.

Naruto was given the bedroom that faced the village. He had no idea it was originally his nursery. He should have guessed from the fact that Lina had given him a whole new bed to sleep in.

Naruto absolutely loved his aunt. Not only was she nice (to him anyway. The last time a civilian tried to kick him he got hit with some weird fire jutsu) but she actually helped him prank people! Plus there was the nickname she had for the Fourth Hokage, it made him laugh.

_("I don't know who convinced the Blondaime to look so constipated when they did that carving,"_ _she grinned at him._

_Naruto stared at his aunt, before he said the first thing on his mind._

"_Blondaime?"_

"_Blond and Yondaime. Blondaime. He was a bit of an idiot though.")_

* * *

To the relief of Lina, not all of the civilians hated her nephew on sight. Some, like the owners of the Ichiraku stand, actually adored the kid. She was a bit dismayed to learn that Naruto couldn't read or do maths yet. He was five, which meant he should have at least started the basics. They didn't really teach them at the Academy.

Which was why she spent every afternoon showing Naruto how to read and balance a checkbook. It was more than most parents would teach their kids. Plus it was a rather good example of basic math.

* * *

Within a month of returning to the village, Lina formally announced her return. She was rather pleased to hear the screams of outright horror and terror coming from her fellow shinobi. And the screams of sheer terror coming from a majority of the civilian population.

Though to be fair most of the civilians had already faced her wrath when it came to hurting her nephew or getting on her nerves.

She was very happy watching the looks of the council. Danzo turned white as a sheet, while the other two began to twitch uncontrollably while mentally doing calculations on how much sake they would need to survive her return.

Lina had a...unique...way of dealing with people who tried to manipulate her or her family. It involved butter, a dull kunai, and places not named in public.

As it was, the Hokage was rather enjoying the looks of complete shock and horror on the three who had tried to turn Naruto into a weapon.

Lina may have been a natural force of destruction that no insurance would _dare_ cover (she was labeled under Acts of Kami/Shinobi War on their papers, and naturally she found that fact absolutely hilarious) but the sad fact was that if the council had ever dared to label her a missing Nin, then she would have started really destroying places in their name for the hell of it.

Frankly it was easier to tell the other countries that she was currently on a training mission, and wasn't associated with the Leaf unless absolutely necessary.

Lina found it amusing that the Hokage always had the option of calling her to destroy a village if someone tried to start a war. She had made it a point to stay in contact with the village just for that occasion.

* * *

_Time skip four months..._

Lina was on her way back from the store when she saw them. Kumo recently decided to make a peace agreement with Konoha, and she had thought it amusing that people actually believed that lie. Which was why she went shopping near the Hyuuga compound that night.

She found three Kumo ninja kidnapping a little girl. And smirked evilly.

"Now, now boys... are you really sure that's such a wise idea? I'm sure the Hyuuga wouldn't like you taking one of their girls..." she grinned.

A kunai was sent her way, and she leaned the other way. She carefully placed her food down, and then took out the three shinobi, catching the girl before she fell on the ground. She then deposited them in the ANBU headquarters explaining _how _she found them.

When Kumo took offense that their three chunin had been caught causing trouble, Lina was downright evil as she smiled at them. One of them apparently recognized her, because his face paled.

"Now boys, I'm sure you weren't suggesting that I was lying? I would hate to have to go to Kumo and...rearrange...the village," she said calmly.

The pale man looked like something that had died as he realized _what_ she was saying. If they continued to pressure the Hyuuga for one of their people, _Lina Inverse_ would show up at the village and obliterate it.

They weren't that suicidal. And the other villages wouldn't exactly call them weak for backing down after Lina expressed an interest in their village while in a bad mood.

After that, Hinata and Neji were allowed to hang out with Naruto. Apparently Hiashi felt he owed Lina for saving his twin brother, so he overlooked the fact that Hinata and Neji were around the boy.

If asked, he would put it down to the Lina Effect. She broke down more barriers by being herself than any diplomatic approach.

Of course it wasn't until Sasuke ended up being dumped on the woman that things really turned interesting.

Itachi, tired of the fact that his father and clan always ignored Sasuke in favor of him, decided to try something drastic. He kidnapped his brother under the guise of training, knocked on the door and asked Lina rather politely if she could help train Sasuke for him.

When asked why, she couldn't help the cackling as Itachi replied _"I want my brother to avoid having a stick lodged up his ass."_

Needless to say, Lina took _great_ pleasure in showing the boy how to cast the flare arrow. And told the boy he was to use it any time his father tried to force him to act like a 'Proper Uchiha'. Sasuke liked Itachi better than he did his father anyway.

The fact that the Uchiha compound suffered a rash of fires was just a coincidence...right?

* * *

_Time Skip Two years..._

Lina couldn't believe what she was hearing. Itachi Uchiha, one of the rare Uchiha she could stand without wanting to fireball them, had massacred his entire clan and left Sasuke the lone survivor.

She found it hard to believe he would do such a thing. Sure, they were a pack of idiots, but with Sasuke's natural ability with the more...destructive...fire spells, Itachi couldn't have made their lives more of a nightmare. She would even give him ideas on what to hit next! So she went straight to the Hokage and demanded a proper explanation, not just the cover story.

"Itachi...uncovered a plan to perform a coup within the Uchiha clan. The only way to stop it was to kill them."

"And that lead to the so-called problem of him being a missing nin, even though he actually did the village a service," said Lina deadpan.

The Hokage nodded. They could let the truth out once Itachi came back from his long-term undercover mission in the Akatsuki. If Sasuke didn't kill his brother first.

"Right... I guess this means the Elders are planning to force the kid with another family?"

"That is their plan. I was leaning toward Sasuke living on his own."

"Like hell. I'll take him in, and he can have the room across from Naruto. The two of them get along fine, and it will keep the Elders from trying to mold him like they did with Itachi."

The Hokage paused... then looked at her.

"I could care less about the boy living with you, but nothing higher than a Gaav Flare until he reaches genin, am I clear? It's bad enough that Naruto can pull off a Ra Tilt before he's even been in the Academy for a year."

"That? I had nothing to do with that. Zel happened to be in the area, and when he found how good Naruto was at picking up shaman spells, he had to see exactly how quick a learner he was. I think Amelia was going to show Hinata how to use the higher level White Spells next week."

The Hokage had only met Lina's other traveling companions twice, the first time being a formality that allowed them to enter the village without trouble.

How Lina managed to become that familiar with _both_ Princesses of Seiryuun he had no idea, so long as she didn't start a war.

Zelgadis had been rather surprised to learn that no one looked twice at his odd appearance, but he had rather liked it. He tended to show up in the village more often than not because of it.

Naruto had, unsurprising to Lina, taken to the Chimera with fervor. He had also successfully drawn out the man's inner prankster.

Lina had never laughed so hard in months. She did feel sorry for Iruka, the only teacher in the Academy that she didn't want to fireball.

Even if the teachers were actually doing their job in concerns to her nephew out of fear of her wrath, they still gave him dirty looks.

Sasuke was rather quick to launch either an ice or flare arrow at them every time he spotted them doing it though.

* * *

_Time skip to the Genin test..._

"So what did Lina say about the exam?"

"She said and I quote, 'Screw using illusions, I'm showing you how to make them solid!'_,_" answered Naruto.

Lina had watched Naruto fail at the exam twice, and upon learning _what_ jutsu caused him to fail, had decided to teach him a jounin level trick called the shadow clone.

To the amusement of the boys, the genins preferred landing the mission of cleaning the house for her. She hated doing it, and the boys were only in charge of their rooms. Any team that ended up cleaning the house were usually rewarded with training scrolls she kept on hand. The pay was rather lousy though.

Sasuke still couldn't believe that the one woman who he respected had adopted him into the family after Itachi had killed everyone. If she hadn't, there was no doubt in his mind that he would have become a broody, narcissistic jerk just like his father would have wanted.


	22. Child of Lightning, Daughter of Tides 3

Riku stepped up their training, feeling that this whole mess would be over with very shortly.

Once everyone had recovered from dealing with the book, they would take a short trip to Fate and Riku's home world to make an assessment on whether or not it was possible for them to stay, at least during summer months.

Fate and Nanoha had already gone from Academy to things they would be learning as genin. Riku knew that while they were prodigies at manipulating energy, they at least worked harder than most prodigies he had seen.

Nanoha almost worked herself to the bone so she wouldn't fail to help others. If Riku hadn't recommended that Raising Heart have a lock out program installed for every one hundred hours spent training, she might risk her linker core trying to over train.

Lindy had approved of it, especially when she got a report from the medical officer a week after Nanoha's core had recovered. Apparently it was showing signs of strain, and the draining had only made it worse.

Chakra cores couldn't be drained that way, and besides, Riku knew if Nanoha tried the same thing she did with her Linker Core her parents would immediately see it.

Nanoha wasn't a clanless girl, as he had originally believed. Her father was from a sect of shinobi who knew the basics of chakra, but had forgotten how to unlock it.

So now she had another way to learn the shinobi arts, at least the really old ones. It would be fun to see how the girl progressed from that.

"Riku, would you like to join us?" asked Fate.

"_I'm bored. Is there a chance of a fight?"_ asked Riku.

Doubtful, we're just going to a hospital to visit Hayate-san," said Fate.

"_Then why not take the wolf with you?"_

"Because she is too noticeable and you can jump inside the seal," said Fate flatly. Riku conceded that point. A wolf wasn't likely going to be allowed inside a hospital, whereas they wouldn't be able to see or sense him unless they knew how to. Which wasn't likely outside of their true home world.

Riku jumped into the seal, as he could smell Aruf wanting to take the chance to jump him again. It wasn't like he had no interest in the girl, but he wanted to get used to his freedom first, and beside she was just running on hormones at the moment anyway.

At least he could leave Fate when her hormones finally kicked in...

* * *

Riku jumped out of Fate the second he felt the bind. The two masked fools tried to bind him as well, but he flared his chakra and broke it.

"Riku! Stop them!" shouted Fate. She didn't want to see Signum and the others hurt.

"_Finally! Some action!"_

Riku grew in size and gave an evil grin. What these pathetic familiars didn't seem to realize was that the Kyuubi no Kitsune, AKA Riku, was in fact a living Lost Logia bound to Fate. As one of the nine tailed demons of the Elemental Nations, he and his fellow Bijuu contained most of the chakra held inside that world.

The Kyuubi held the greatest concentration of it, which was why it could only be bound by seal inside an infant. At least without having to spend years restoring their chakra control anyway. Something Kushina had been less than pleased to find out.

He broke through their bindings as if they were make of cheap paper, he tore through their defenses, and when they tried to use the Knights as hostages he split into nine and rescued them.

When Hayate was forcibly teleported to the fight, Riku managed to get her to bring out the book. Since the whole issue seemed to be the reincarnation program, he had the Tome of the Night Sky (who was very pleased _someone_ called her by her proper name for a change) bring it out.

And then he ate it. No matter _how_ many times it tried to reincarnate, his stomach would simply shift and destroy it again. He was a being of chakra who regenerated every time he was destroyed. Something as pathetic as this reincarnation program wouldn't last against him.

* * *

Chrono showed up half an hour later and bound the two masked idiots, to the annoyance of Riku who had been having far too much fun playing with them. He hadn't even had to use most of his first tail to deal with them!

"What the hell are you?" asked Chrono bluntly. This fox had _played_ with the Lieze twins and had eaten the program causing the problem with the book. It was NOT normal.

Riku opened a single eye from his spot on the couch and said _"I am a manifested being of pure energy given consciousness and sealed into a nine-year-old girl who uses an axe. My previous master was one of the wielders of the Tome of the Night Sky before his death, which was why it had armor for me. Do you really think a pair of CATS could deal with a more than thousand year old fox spirit used to crushing things when I'm at my full size?"_

Chrono immediately went to verify that, only to pale when he learned that Riku's current form was just a disguise and wasn't even a tenth of his true size. The fact Fate could control his energy level outside the seal was the only reason he wasn't freaking out right now.

Still, it was interesting to hear how the other Admirals and Generals had to say when they learned _how_ that troublesome program was dealt with. Quite a few had their jaws dropped from disbelief. The only reason Riku didn't burp it up was because he didn't want to eat it again. Apparently it had gone kicking and screaming the wrong way down.

* * *

Fate was decidedly nervous. A few months after the incident with the Wolkeritter, everyone was preparing to visit her home world in hopes to see how bad it was.

From Riku's descriptions, it was rife with wars between nations, children soldiers were frowned upon but it wasn't that uncommon, and there was very little in terms of technological development. About the only good thing was that they weren't that restrictive on how to develop their magic, or chakra, as Riku called it, unless the method in question was utterly reprehensible or too difficult to use regularly by most.

Considering how many worlds restricted knowledge over some preconceived idea of light and dark, it was still up for debate on whether it was a good thing or not.

Nanoha would be going with her, for moral support.

Riku would be taking a nap until it was time to act. Aruf would be playing the form of a ninken, as he called her.

A week into spring vacation, and they came upon the world Presea had visited for a vacation.

Non-Administrative World #109 seemed peaceful enough. Riku was able to give them a basic image of the passports needed to get into the village called Konoha, as they didn't like it when people came in without one.

Fate was walking near the front, with Aruf beside her and Nanoha next to her. Yuuno was on her shoulder, since he could act faster if they had the element of surprise.

Lindy was acting as the adult of the group, along with Chrono.

"Names?" asked the guard.

"Fate T. Harlaown."

"Nanoha Takamachi."

"Chrono Harlaown."

"Lindy Harlaown."

"Aruf," said the wolf. It said a lot that the guard only looked up to see that yes, the wolf talked. He immediately marked the box 'ninken' and went back to checking their passports. While slightly out of date, he ignored it because they looked a few years old. They probably lived on the outskirts from his guess, and they didn't update their passports that often.

"Reason for visit?"

"Vacation," said Lindy.

"Duration of stay?"

"A least a month."

The ninja stamped their passports once, and handed them back. A few people looked at them, mostly because of the odd coloring of their hair or Aruf's fur, but most ignored them. A few rookie ANBU followed them, at least until their shift started.

"Very peaceful village," commented Lindy.

**(Let's find a library and catch up to current events,)** suggested Yuuno. Ever the bookworm.

A few of them drifted to the library, which was open to civilians. You needed a headband and active ninja ID to get into the other parts.

By the time they left, Yuuno had found that within the last decade they had been attacked by Riku (he had already explained what really happened, as it was known only to a few), had one of the clan heirs nearly kidnapped and forced to surrender their clan head (not likely) to the village in question, and nearly lost one of their most prestigious clans in a single night.

Who knew shinobi had newspapers?

It wasn't until they were about to leave that Fate found something that bothered her. It was a single obituary for someone called the Demon Brat, and it felt...wrong...for lack of a better term.

Clearly the owners of the paper hated the container of the Demon Fox.

* * *

Kakashi was on his way to the restaurant when he saw them. He wouldn't have paid them any mind, except for the fact that the blond girl looked far too much like Minato for it to be normal. She even had the whisker marks.

He discreetly followed them, noting her pet wolf, and when she started eating a ton of ramen he knew.

Naruko was alive...and back in the village apparently.

He would have to tell the Hokage about this.

* * *

Fate was about to settle in to read a book when Bardiche spoke up.

**(Sir, there is a mid-level scrying spell about to settle on us.)**

Fate immediately went to Lindy and mentioned it. It wouldn't do to set any suspicion on them this early, and they hadn't done anything to attract the attention of anyone important.

Well, aside from Fate's surprising addiction for ramen, which had caught them all off guard.

Bardiche feel silent and they could all feel the scrying spell settle directly on them. It seemed to be following Fate around for some reason.

_**(Che...seems like the Hokage has found out you're alive. Look directly up and to your left. That should give him a good shock,)**_ said Riku with an evil chuckle.

Fate didn't see why she shouldn't do as he said, and in the Hokage Tower Sarutobi nearly had a heart attack from his scrying globe. How did she know where to look?

But then his heart calmed down enough to get a very good look at her. She had Minato's eyes, Kushina's round features, and the same whisker marks that she had been born with. That was where the similarities ended.

Naruko had a lean figure meant for speed and power, not a bad combination for a shinobi to have. She wore form fitting outfits and seemed to favor black and red. He could see some sort of golden triangle in her right hand, and the way she held it he could only assume it was a weapon of some sort.

However he couldn't say that she was alive and back just based on appearances. He would have to have a DNA test done just to be sure.

* * *

Fate was approached by a man who stank of dogs, according to Aruf. Apparently someone _had_ figured out who she was.

Once they were in the hospital, she came across what she could only assume was the village leader. The respect everyone gave him was the only indicator she had.

"Hello little one. I am Sarutobi Hiruzen," he said pleasantly. While he was a warrior, it was clear he wasn't there for a fight.

"Harlaown Fate. Shouldn't my mother be here for tests such as this?" she asked calmly. The Hokage made a discreet hand signal to bring the oldest woman to the hospital.

Once the room was relatively clear of everyone, except for the few loyal ANBU assigned to protecting the Hokage, and Lindy who had just arrived via Shushin, they talked.

Riku waited for the door to close before he popped out and jumped onto the bed, ready for a nap. It was his favorite pastime.

The looks on the Hokage, ANBU and Kakashi's faces made his stunt entirely worth coming out of the seal. (Kakashi was the one to bring her to the hospital.)

"_Hah! That was the look I was hoping for!" _ crowed Riku.

Fate lightly bopped him on the head.

"Riku, behave," she said.

"How? The seal sensei put was perfect!" said Kakashi shocked.

The Kyuubi snorted.

"_Come on! How often do I get to prank people like them?" _whined Riku.

"How is HE out of the seal?" asked the Hokage.

"_Minato may have covered all shinobi methods of removing me, but he didn't know about magecraft. I'm bound as her familiar and can come out whenever I please."_

"Perhaps this story should be told in more...private...chambers?" suggested Lindy.

"Let's head to my office," said the Hokage. He looked relieved Riku went back into the seal to avoid a wide spread panic.

Once the security seal went up, Lindy started speaking.

"I am Captain Lindy of the _Arthra,_ a ship from the Time Space Administrative Bureau. Fate here is my adopted daughter, and we only recently learned where her home world was after we rescued her."

"Home world? There are other worlds out there?" said Sarutobi in shock.

Lindy explained as much as she could, considering this was under the first contact rule. Generally governments didn't take too kindly about there being aliens among them.

It wasn't until she got to how Fate came to be her daughter that they were on common ground. Sarutobi had already started drinking sake to calm his nerves.

By the next day, he had another shock, though this one he had at least been anticipating to a degree.

Fate Harlaown was originally Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze. And since she wasn't a legal citizen of Konoha, if the idiot civilians tried to attack she could legally defend herself.

* * *

Lindy got off the communication screen and looked at Fate.

"It's official. They want you to scope out this world since it has a working set of government. Apparently this chakra has really impressed the Bureau so they want a native who's more loyal to them than the village to send reports. You can teleport to Earth on your days off, and they'll have a ship on standby in case of medical emergency involving magic."

Fate was torn. On one hand, she wouldn't be spending any more time with Nanoha. On the other, she would learn about her birth parents.

"Can I have a trial period, in case this doesn't work out?" she asked.

"They've given you a six-month period to determine whether or not to send someone else in."

Fate decided that the information she needed might well be worth not spending time with Nanoha. Only time would tell if she made the right choice.


	23. Kitsune Otome Chapter One

Two forces clashed in the Valley of the End.

Loyalty against Treason. Wind against Lightning. Hope against the Darkness.

"RASENGAN!"

"CHIDORI!"

Two powers, that of demons and humans clashed in a mighty blast that tore apart dimensions.

One of the combatants would be thrown into a new world where their power would grow even stronger. The other would leave their home to become the worst traitor in recent years.

Naruko Uzumaki was in for a hell of a ride.

* * *

"Ow...where am I?" she asked.

It wasn't Konoha, or anywhere near it. Her nose told her that much. The air was much too dirty to be home.

"You're in Garderobe Academy for Otome," said a woman nearby.

"Where?"

"Be careful. You had some nasty wounds on your chest, and you suffered from a very long fall. It's fortunate that the Corals were practicing with their robes today."

Naruko blinked, her sapphire blue eyes slightly unfocused. Once she rubbed them, things became clearer.

Definitely not home, she decided. It was too advanced for home.

That was when she noticed something more important.

"What happened to my clothes?"

"They were so damaged we had to throw them out," said the woman. She had short brown hair and had the same air that Tsunade had. She was most likely a healer of some sort.

Naruko couldn't help her disappointed face. That was her favorite jumpsuit!

"In any case, what in the world were you doing to get all those injuries?"

"I was trying to keep a friend from doing something monumentally stupid. Instead the jerk tried to kill me and I ended up here."

"What is your country of origin?"

"I'm from the Land of Fire, Genin Naruko Uzumaki of Konoha, at your service ma'am!"

"Where?"

Naruko hung her head.

"I'm nowhere near home, am I?" she said.

"Afraid not. Somehow I get the feeling you're not even from this planet either."

"If the level of your tech-no-lo-gy is anything to go by, then definitely not."

"Well maybe the Headmistress can help you."

* * *

Naruko was given a spare outfit, but it wasn't like what many of the other girls outside were wearing.

"So, you are the girl who fell from the sky."

"Uzumaki Naruko, genin of Konohagakure at your service!"

"Konohagakure? Genin?"

"Damn. I was really hoping I was on the same world."

"Speaking of which, do you know what this is?"

She held up a bright red gemstone that looked almost like a ruby.

"No idea."

"It was found in your pocket," said Headmistress Natsuki.

"But I don't own anything near that nice looking!"

"How strange. According to the records on the Gem, you are the master of this particular Meister Gem, which before now never existed. It's a rare type, which allows you to Materialize a Robe without a Master."

"Meister Gem? Robes? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"How about a deal then? You attend the Academy as a new student until we figure out what is going on, and until then you can work off tuition in the city," said Natsuki.

"I'm not afraid of hard work!" said Naruko.

"That's good, because starting tomorrow you will be on the path of the Otome. Once we get you settled with the basics, you'll join the other Corals in class. By the way, what is your age?"

"Almost fourteen. My birthday is October 10th."

"You can fill out the forms while we get you fitted," said Natsuki.

* * *

Natsuki looked at the innocent looking Meister Gem on the desk. Things had gotten a lot more complicated with this girl around. Not only had she appeared with grievous wounds and a Gem, but she wasn't even from this planet!

Unfortunately they couldn't send her out until they figured out why this had happened. Or why someone not of their world had a Rare Meister gem that allowed a robe to be materialized without a master's approval.

Too bad they didn't have scholarships...perhaps she could convince Princess Mashiro to take on this case. She was the 'rightful' heir to the Windbloom kingdom, and they didn't have an Otome yet.

Grabbing a pen and putting it to paper, Natsuki proceeded to write to the Princess about taking this girl under her sponsorship.

If she had known what a headache Naruko would be later, she might have reconsidered the idea of allowing her to become a Coral.

* * *

"So these nano-things allow you to create weapons out of nothing?" asked Naruko. She was back in that bed and laying down. She had a long, thick needle in her left arm putting nanomachines into her bloodstream.

"Nanomachines," she corrected.

"So what else can they do?"

"They increase your strength, heal you faster, and allow you materialize your Robe through the Gem. However, if you ever have relations with a man, they break down and you can never be an Otome again," she replied.

"Why?"

"Because that's how the system works. You can retire eventually, and have a family then."

"So how does this world work?" asked Naruko.

Might as well make a report once she found a way to send it home... she nearly bolted upright.

The Toads! She could send it through them!

An hour later she was let out of that room and she went to the library. Once the machines settled down she could try summoning, but until then, she planned to read.

She almost ran into a problem until she realized the book she had picked up was for those with a few years of schooling under their belt. Once she found something more her speed (history, of all things) she was soon devouring the books.

She actually loved reading, but she could never afford books. She eventually brought out some clones (having to figure out the mental aspect completely by accident one night) and the number of books around her grew in proportion to the number of clones out.

* * *

By the time she had moved onto recent history, her clones had dispersed.

She also had a monumental headache and decided to take a break. She wandered into the wooded area and stretched a bit. The sun felt so nice on her skin.

It was so nice out she started to hum, but before long it turned into words. She had heard it once from someone a long time ago, but she couldn't remember who. Only that they had the same eyes and hair color she did.

"_Who are those little girls in pain_

_Just trapped in castle of dark side of moon_

_Twelve of them shining bright in vain_

_Like flower that blossom just once in year_

_They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love_

_Just dreaming a place where they are free as dove_

_They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage_

_It' s only the fairy tale they believe_

_They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love_

_Just dreaming a place where they are free as dove_

_They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage"_

(This is the song from the _Mai-Hime _series that Alyssa sings. The song is called "It's Only A Fairy Tale.")

"_You're quite good."_

"Who's there?" demanded Naruko.

She paled when a ghostly girl with sunshine bright yellow hair and deep blue eyes appeared. Naruko hated ghosts.

"_Don't be afraid. You're the only one who can see me right now,"_ said the girl.

"Who are you?"

"_My name is Alyssa Searrs. I am the one who gave you that golden hair when you were born. Your father was one of my descendants, the one who stayed behind when everyone else left."_

"Why can I see you?"

"_That Gem that they found belongs to me. I put it in your pocket so that you would be safe until it was time to return. You have to train here and get stronger so that you can defeat that fool who sent you here."_

"You mean Sasuke? And why here?"

"_Because your cousin, Arika, will need your help very soon. She may not know of her heritage, but she will need your guidance in order to stop Nagi again. Plus I need you to talk to Miyu for me, since she can't see ghosts like me."_

Naruko paused, before her next question came to mind.

"Are you the reason I can understand them and read their language? Because it looked like scribbles to me for a moment."

"_I had help from your Demonic tenant. You will have enough trouble surviving in this new world without being unable to read and speak the local tongue. Besides, this way I can prepare my strongest descendant for what is to come later."_

"Just out of curiosity, will anyone else be able to see me talk to you?"

"_No, a minor genjutsu comes up whenever we talk, so don't worry about that. Once you leave here for home, a small portion of the Gem will remain even if you do find a lover. Consider it my gift to you as an apology for dragging you across worlds."_

Naruko spent two hours talking to Alyssa, unaware that she had entered someone's radar once she made contact.

* * *

"You're in luck, Naruko. Princess Mashiro has agreed to sponsor you," said Natsuki.

"Who?"

"The ruler of this country. She takes the throne as Queen next year."

"Oh."

Naruko was given a run-down on where everything was, and how the system worked. She would be a Coral for at least a year, and depending on her grades she might become a Pearl by the next year because of age.

She was given a room with Coral 1, Nina Wang.

"So you're the girl who fell into our Academy."

"Naruko Uzumaki at your service!" said Naruko with a mock salute.

"Just don't hold me back in our paired spars," said Nina.

She had the bad luck of being paired with the new girl.

* * *

"Coral 190! What sort of form is that supposed to be?" barked Miss Maria.

"Eh? But this is the form I always use when fighting," said Naruko.

Kakashi always complained about her taijutsu form, but never bothered to correct it. It was always Sakura this, and Sasuke that. He rarely paid her any attention, so why should she pay him any mind outside of learning new jutsu? Which basically meant never.

The teacher made a tsk-ing noise, and Naruko later found herself given a very thorough crash course on what they called martial arts...and what she immediately recognized as taijutsu.

She ended up having to take remedial lessons on basic moves and through the magic of shadow clones, was quickly up to par with the other girls.

Though it was still funny when she saw Nina's look after she picked up the bed one handed and swept the floor without pausing. Apparently she had surprised everyone with her 'herculean' strength and brawler fighting style, which was quickly disappearing.

* * *

"NA-RU-KO! What have I told you! We don't have ramen on the school menu!" screamed Nina.

Once again, Naruko had made a massive batch of ramen noodles, though the only reason Nina knew this was because she could see where the broth had been before Naruko got to it. There was enough left for ten bowls, and that was pushing it.

The pot she had used was big enough for fifty, easily.

Nina was stretching the blonde's cheeks in rage, as once again, Naruko had used kitchen duty to make ramen, despite the fact it was almost never on the menu.

"Nina-chan...that almost hurts!" said Naruko.

Naruko had been in Garderobe for nearly six months, and she was pretty much famous among the other Otome.

Her massive strength (without her Robe, which was shocking), her odd attacks (she had once used the Rasengan to beat Nina), her massive appetite...and the most disturbing of all, her abnormally high pain tolerance.

Naruko had once broken her arm, and yet continued to fight. They only found out about the fact she had broken her right arm against Nina when the girl had commented on hearing something break. And then she baffled everyone by getting up and carrying a ton of books the next morning without even a sign of her arm having been injured.

None of them knew about the Kyuubi inside her, and she planned to keep it that way as long as possible.

Nina's torment of the blond was nothing compared to what her old teammate Sakura used to do for asking a simple question she should have already known the answer to if not for biased teachers.

The fact was that when Naruko learned the memory trick to the clones, she had sent over a hundred of them to reread the books in the Academy library, which wasn't exactly locked at night being so close to the Hokage tower and only having the basics inside. All the real jutsu were in the _main_ library which was close to the ANBU headquarters, and it had a better guard.

Which was why she had devoured every book she could get her hands on, and damn the migraine she had gotten once she had them pop.

The librarian in charge had cussed up quite a storm when she had to clean up the books Naruko's clones had left lying around the place.

At least she wasn't completely stupid anymore, having caught up on her studies even though she had recently graduated.

Iruka, once she mentioned who had broken into the Academy library, had told her how proud he was that she had taken initiative...and then warned her to avoid the librarian because she had sworn vengeance on the culprit who left the mess.

Still, Naruko's high pain tolerance had lead to a source of amusement whenever she did something wrong, as Nina was often the one chosen to be the girl's "minder" for lack of a better term.

Nina had originally been shocked when Naruko had asked why she apologized for taking out her frustration on the blond after she had drooled on Nina's homework by mistake which lead to Nina beating the girl up without her robes.

Finding out your roommate used to be systematically beaten by her own team had been a nasty shock. To be fair, Nina was more like a nicer version of Sakura, albeit one who didn't take out her own frustrations on the girl without good cause.

Like now for instance.

* * *

Naruko found herself bound and hung upside down from the first high tree Nina could find. Considering the girl never complained and thought it all in good fun (once again, this was a less painful punishment compared to what Sakura used to put her through) the teachers never did anything but watch.

Naruko was unaware that should she ever complain about the treatment, Nina would get into serious trouble. Despite all the relatively minor (by Naruko's standards) beatings Nina gave her, she still considered the raven haired girl her best friend.

A fact that was never lost on Nina, who often went out of her way to help Naruko with her homework as the girl needed it.

At least Jiraiya sent her jutsu scrolls so she wouldn't be completely behind her friends back home.


	24. Not So Useless Chapter One

A groan was heard from under the covers. What the hell had she drank last night? Moving to the nearest open door, she found a mirror and nearly shrieked in absolute horror at the sight she saw.

There, staring back at her wasn't a bushy brunette with a single ponytail with brown eyes, but a pink haired banshee with teal eyes and far too long hair than she was comfortable with.

"Oh no. OH HELL NO! Out of all the characters I could end up as, why did it have to be _HER?_" she almost screamed.

She _hated_ Sakura before Shippuden, and here she was in the bint's body!

This was the first time she had ended up as an anime character, but why in the name of god did it have to be the useless, annoying, banshee-like brat from Naruto known as Sakura Haruno?

She took a shower, hoping like hell this was a bad dream or possibly the start of another fanfiction like usual, but another look at the mirror proved that yes, she had somehow become Haruno.

She made a face.

"This is going to suck, I just know it," she complained. Why couldn't she had become Anko, or hell, even Tsunade?

No, instead she got the flat-chested, harpy brat who was a glorified fan girl.

(Not that she wasn't, but she at least had some common sense!)

"Sakura-honey! It's time for breakfast!" shouted her mother.

"Coming!" she replied. Right, time to play Haruno before she did a complete revamp of the girl. Since she was stuck in this prepubescent hell, she was going to have fun with it.

First things first, she needed to see what day it was. Hopefully it was a day off from the Academy so she could get her hair dyed and cut. No way in hell was she keeping her hair pink...she preferred blue or red. Hell, she could get her hair purple like Anko's!

Now she was grinning. Time to learn some genjutsu and not be labeled completely useless.

* * *

"So you want to learn genjutsu. Why?" asked Kurenai. She was the first person Sakura went to.

"Booksmarts are only going to get me so far, and I think illusions would be more my thing than medical jutsu, even if I do have good chakra control."

"Well, the biggest requirement of genjutsu is to have a good imagination," said Kurenai.

"I've got that in spades. Want to see?" asked Sakura.

"I suppose seeing how good you are wouldn't hurt..." said Kurenai.

She would regret that. The girl was twisted...she was almost as bad as Anko was!

"I think...we'll get along just fine. Though we will have to do something about that hair and weight issue of yours," said Kurenai.

"I'm already working on it. I'm going to hit the salon to change my hair color and get it cut. Long hair is too easy to grab," said Sakura.

"Good. Nothing too bright unless you want to work on your stealth too," said Kurenai.

* * *

"Welcome to our salon! Take a seat and pick out a style you like!"

Sakura grinned and picked on that was about shoulder length, and a color she really liked. She could always have dyed later.

"Find one you like?"

She pointed out the style and color.

"Fifteen hundred ryo for both," she said. Sakura handed her the notes and she went to work. By the time she left, she no longer had an eye-gouging shade of hot pink, but a rather fetching shade of violet purple, not unlike Anko's.

That night, she decided to adapt her usual diet of red meat, noodles, and large amounts of fatty foods. Combined with taijutsu training she shouldn't blow up like a blimp. Besides, it had to be healthier that the true Sakura's rather stupid diet plan.

* * *

Today was the final genin exam, and so far she had learned everything Kurenai was comfortable teaching her.

She mastered the basics of making your own genjutsu so quickly that Kurenai actually felt pity for anyone who angered her.

The girl had a very twisted and extensive imagination after all, and that was never a good thing when used against you through genjutsu.

One of the first things she did once she realized she had a few years worth of Academy left (Naruto and Sasuke looked about eleven at least) was to subtly rework her personality. She had slowly gone from a vapid, annoying as hell fangirl with a grudge against Ino Yamanaka to one of the most powerful students in the class. Her usual diet, when not combined with any exercise, tended to make people blimp out like an Akimichi.

Combined with taijutsu, however, it built up the muscle mass the real Sakura had lost because of her infatuation with the Uchiha.

One who still blamed Naruto for half the pranks that now befell him on a near daily basis. Out of all the Naruto characters, she hated Sasuke almost as much as she did Sakura. He, at least, was more of an emo prick who needed a wake up call. She could tolerate his character more than she could Sakura.

The second thing to happen was that she ended up running into Anko at the dango stand, and to her surprise the woman struck up a conversation with her first, having heard offhand of her unusual imagination with genjutsu from Kurenai.

Several spies, when they heard the maniacal cackling from the two, committed suicide on the spot believing Anko had found them out.

It was the infamous graduation scene, and there was a marked improvement from canon.

For one thing, she had subtly informed Naruto about the real problem behind his clones, and he had immediately asked 'Jiji' about any chakra-intensive clones that he could use after hearing it.

The Hokage was willing to give him the shadow clone when Naruto properly explained the issue.

Another interesting issue was that she had a run-in with Inoichi, after Ino had spoken about her sudden change in behavior. Fortunately she had the original Sakura's mental issues to work with.

Apparently one encounter with 'inner Sakura' which was really her inner sadist who had a really morbid sense of humor (she found the deaths in _Final Destination_ a good laugh, and regularly watched a show called _1,000 Ways to Die_ whenever she saw it on. Enough said.) was enough to keep the mind readers far from her.

According to Anko (who she told the real story to), the official report was that her 'inner' personality had decided to take the reigns, as it was tired of being ignored.

Considering the fact that this so call inside voice was actually a better kunoichi, albeit a miniature Anko in training, it was little surprise that the Hokage had ordered them to leave it be.

Naruto was just glad Sakura had quit hitting him so often, unless it was for spars.

What he didn't know was that she had taken Hinata aside early on in her revamping, and told the shy girl point blank she had no interest in Naruto as anything but a friend, and would support her every step of the way should she finally gather the courage to admit her crush.

Hinata had blushed but the glare she had when she realized Sakura was being nicer to Naruto had dropped.

Suddenly Sakura had an insane grin on her face. It was rather scary, from Hinata's viewpoint.

"How about we help a certain blonde knucklehead pass this year? We grab him and have him next to us, and make it know that any attempts to sabotage his work will not go down without a fight. I've noticed a few times that his tests are always harder than mine, meaning the teachers (except Iruka-sensei) are sabotaging him deliberately."

"We need to put a stop to that," said Hinata with a fire in her eyes.

"Let's find out who's sympathetic to Naruto, and we'll make sure he's not the dead last for much longer!" said Sakura.

Hinata nodded in agreement.

It hadn't taken long either. She had immediately ruled out all civilian kids, who weren't cut out to be shinobi anyway. Sasuke had his head too far up his own ass, so he was out. But some of the clan kids might work.

All it took was a little convincing with Chouji, Kiba, Shikamaru and Shino (and later Ino, after Shikamaru talked to her) and suddenly it took a lot more to sabotage Naruto. Sakura had them checking his textbooks during class, and the tests.

The teachers, when they were informed that Naruto had 'accidentally' brought the wrong text book, were forced to let the clan heirs share their books with Naruto. They also couldn't exactly stop them from speaking up about the fact Naruto had been given the wrong test.

Iruka didn't know whether to congratulate them for catching it, or to watch the show. The Hokage had other ideas, and spoke to their parents on how well they were taking the whole teamwork concept before they had even graduated.

Sakura was pleased to note that it kept her parents from saying anything bad when the Hokage had thanked her for helping Naruto, instead of just standing by and watching it happen.

She waited for her turn, before she walked into the classroom.

"Henge and Replacement," said Iruka. Mizuki had his usual glare at her, because half the time Naruto had the wrong test it was usually _his_ fault.

Sakura did both within a minute, and was given her headband. She put it across her neck like some sort of necklace, since she couldn't use it with her trademark ponytail.

Ino had claimed Sakura was copying her, so she started putting it in a bun instead. That had shut the blond up.

With this, she could use it as one of her bandannas to hold her hair back. She hated having hair in her face.

She counted to ten when Naruto went in, and he came out with a massive smile on his face that even those who treated him like crap couldn't take off. Around his forehead was the unmistakable proof that he had, for the first time ever, passed the final exam. Sakura saw Iruka walk out after the last kid without his headband on, and correctly guessed that he had given it to Naruto.

"In two days time, you will be assigned to your jonin instructor...congratulations, graduates!" said Iruka with a smile.

Sakura stopped Naruto and held up a tiny wolf wallet. She had bought it with her allowance a few months back.

"Want to get some ramen? I'll pay for the first three bowls," she said. Hinata jumped at the chance, and joined them along with Chouji and Shikamaru. Mostly because Sakura usually made that offer open to anyone who wanted to take her up on it.

It was with a much diminished wallet that Sakura returned home. Tomorrow Anko would take her to the clothing store to get something other than the red dresses in the closet.

She didn't mind girly clothes, but she'd rather wear a skort (skirt with shorts sewn underneath) than a long dress into a fight! That was just asking to get killed!

* * *

Anko watched the girl with something akin to relief as she browsed the shinobi section of the clothing line, instead of the civvie one. She went for function before form, picking things that had built in armor or more durability. She noted the girl had a more 'punk' style rather than the somewhat Chinese one from her early years.

She also seemed to prefer pants and shorts, to skirts. And all of her clothes were form fitting and wouldn't flap in the wind, but still had room to grow. A roll of bandages insured that the few she did have that flapped could be wrapped up with expert ease.

She could pick up weapons later, once her team status had been confirmed. She had been saving up quite a bit for that.

"Hmm...not bad girlie. You're more practical than your old self was. You might actually live to make chunin wearing those," said Anko approvingly.

"I hate wearing skirts, and dresses are such a hassle. My old self wasn't practical in the least," said Sakura flatly.

In recent months she had noted that the 'original' Sakura was still sleeping, merely hidden under the surface of the so called 'inner' Sakura that had taken over.

Needless to say the original didn't like the current one very much, especially when she heard the outer Sakura's opinion of her before she had some sense knocked into her.

She was also quite rightly terrified of Anko, who had been told the truth but didn't try to help the original in retaking control.

The sad fact of the matter was that the 'outer' Sakura in control was far more useful to the village than the simpering fangirl she had been originally.

About the only reason the Hokage had allowed this new personality to continue existing was that she had mentioned the original was a very talented medic ninja on par with Tsunade when properly trained.

Once she was a genin, at the very least, she would allow the original to take control so long as she studied medical jutsu and gave control back to the new personality during times of battle.

Considering it was either that or allow this new personality to keep control permanently, the terrified fan girl had agreed to this readily.

* * *

"Team Seven is Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki and Shino Aburame. Your instructor is Kakashi Hatake," said Iruka.

Originally Sasuke had been on their team, but Sakura had broken into the records hall and switched it to Shino. He was quiet and friendly towards Naruto. Besides, pairing the stuck up emo with the hyper Naruto was a bad idea, plain and simple.

"Team Eight is Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka. Your instructor is Kurenai Yuuhi."

"Team Ten is Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi. Your instructor is Asuma Sarutobi," said Iruka. The rest Sakura ignored.

Naruto decided on a payback prank for making them wait an hour and a half, while Sakura shared a book with Shino who nodded in thanks as they settled in to read. Once Naruto was done and snickering evilly, she shared a book on seals with him and promptly said the magic words.

Home Made Paint Tags. He immediately dove into the book with fervor, repressing the urge to cackle evilly.

Another hour and forty five minutes later, and Kakashi walked right into Naruto's rather pathetic trap only to find all three of his new genin _reading_ of all things, ignoring his entrance...well except for the blond who was grinning at his misfortune.

"My first impression is...you lot are complete bookworms."

"Actually that would be me, these two didn't think to bring books when they learned their teacher was Kakashi Hatake, the man of a thousand excuses," said the red head. Kakashi could smell hair dye, so that wasn't her natural color. She must be the Sakura girl who had been keeping Anko's interest for the better part of a year now.

"Roof, five minutes," said Kakashi.

Kakashi gave his bare introduction, and had the kiddie patrol give theirs. Out of the three, the lone kunoichi intrigued him the most.

Originally her psyche profile had read that of a civilian fan girl, although one with enough chakra and good grades to pass the initial graduation exam.

Nearly three years ago that abruptly changed. Her personality did a complete 180 from fan girl to mini Anko. Enough so to warrant Inoichi to do a mind walking and come out looking both disturbed and relieved.

According to him, the Sakura now in charge of the body was a 25-year old civilian who disliked the original Sakura Haruno and decided to make some changes and be a better kunoichi. Her mind was twisted, yet organized. Her imagination was bizarre, coming up with scenarios with only a little stimulus and a pre-made situation to alter it. Once she learned how to make her own genjutsu, she went from a useless fan girl who had no business being a kunoichi to an actual threat in a fight.

Then there was the fact that this new Sakura, who went by the nickname the 'Demon Alchemist' for reasons she would never explain even to Anko and Inoichi had been unable to find, didn't even consider dieting an option, but rather enjoyed taijutsu training. And when she first met Anko...there were thirteen deaths, all of whom were within earshot of their twin evil cackles of absolute doom. They were later revealed to be spies.

The real question had always been since the discovery of this new Sakura was this... Was she a true shinobi or was she a civilian who was playing with fire?

Kakashi fully intended to find out.


	25. Pandora Shinobi Chapter One

Everything changed, historians agreed, with the cry of an infant taking it's first true gasp in life.

His name was recorded that day as Ikuto Uchiha, son of two respectable shinobi, both of the Uchiha clan...though of different branches to insure that the child wouldn't be malformed in any way.

He opened his eyes for the first time, and there was a brief flash of red which swiftly turned to a sedate blueish-black before anyone could tell the difference. His mother would claim it a trick of the light when she thought about it again later.

Ikuto was a normal child, at least in the beginning. He never drew any attention to himself, but acted in every way like a normal infant.

Then his father was killed in a black-list mission, officially not on the books, and his mother noticed things weren't what they seemed with her son.

By the time he was five, she knew something was terribly wrong with him, but the doctors couldn't find anything to prove it. Even the Yamanaka clan were consulted, and found nothing. Not even a hint of anything out of the ordinary.

Slowly but surely, Hiromi Uchiha began to fear her son.

* * *

It was after a minor playdate, when Itachi locked eyes with Ikuto, that Mikoto noticed something different in her son.

Namely his absolute fear of cats, which before then had never cropped up, became quite obvious.

Fortunately for Ikuto, they never linked it to him, because Itachi had landed the hated Tora mission on his first day as genin. Considering he had never come near a feline before, and none of his mother's friends liked them (they were all Uchiha and had caught Tora's predecessors...enough said) it was understandable that his bizarre fear of the animals had gone unnoticed until this point.

It also helped that Tora nearly blinded Itachi right before he handed it in, and he had to spend the day off to recover from the trauma. Afterwords Itachi became so terrified of the things that he couldn't be in the same room as them, and nothing Fugaku did to try and get him over it worked.

On the plus side Itachi was never made to catch Tora again after the situation was explained to the Hokage. He got a nice bonus from the Fire Daimyo's wife for a simple errand as payment for the trauma her demon cat had inflicted on him, though he took the bribe anyway.

If he spent an unusual amount of time in the tower where the message hawks were kept, no one questioned it as it was kept far from any cats.

* * *

They were the most unusual twins in Suna, and no one could figure out why they had opposing looks.

Their mother abandoned them to the first orphanage she could find after their birth. According to her the pain of the twin births wasn't worth the paid maternity leave. After that she died on the first mission she went on since having them, and they truly became orphans. For some odd reason they had the same name with different spellings, though no one knew why.

Alyss-chan and Alice-kun (easiest way to tell them apart when speaking to them both) were quickly enrolled into the Academy in the hopes that whatever it was that kept creeping people out, it could be used on someone else instead.

It spoke a lot about them that they almost immediately became friends with the most bloodthirsty student in the class, the Kazekage's youngest son and container of Shukaku, Gaara. The other girls would never come near them unless forced by the teachers.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki would never be a normal child. The actions of a single man insured that when he killed the infants parents. This was further compounded after he ran into Ikuto for the first time in class, and he gained something inside. Something that would go undetected for years unless awakened.

He gained a second mind, one that had lived for seventeen years before his death, and had certain powers which would come into play when needed.

There were others like him, spread out throughout the Elemental Nations.

The twins in Suna, the chunin from the Uchiha clan who was terrified of cats, a girl reborn from her premature death, a man who had no idea of who he had been before the end.

There were so many reborn souls, and so few who could be awakened when the need was great.

And only one with the power to do it.

* * *

Ikuto met the gaze of the Kyuubi without even the slightest hint of fear. His eyes turned blood red and the two locked eyes in the span of a few seconds before he was grabbed and taken to the nearest shelter.

A few seconds was all he needed to lock onto the fox's chakra signature...he could use it later.

"Hiromi you should keep better track of your son! He was almost near the edge of the battle!" scolded Mikoto, her son Sasuke at her hip.

Hiromi locked eyes with the infant and shuddered. She would rather fight the damn fox than be near her 'son' another minute longer. The idea was so appealing that she pleaded her case to Mikoto and begged her to watch her son for her as 'she couldn't stand to do sit back and do nothing', in her words. Mikoto had been moved enough by her plea to let her escape the shelter, despite being still in recovery and knowing that Hiromi of late had been going through what she assumed was extreme depression after her son's birth.

Honestly, wasting good money to have the Yamanaka's go through her son's mind...

A few hours later the report came in about Hiromi's death, and how she seemed almost fanatic about being killed by the damn fox. Mikoto felt a stab of guilt, and realized that she was partly responsible for her death.

Fugaku agreed to take the now orphaned Ikuto in, after his wife explained things. No one spoke of Hiromi around Ikuto, and took great pains never to mention her as she had clearly lost her mind if she was willing to abandon her own son just like that.

* * *

Ikuto was in the same class as Naruto, and was the first to spot the problem. So if he 'innocently' mentioned loudly to the class that Naruto had been assigned the wrong book, well, that was no fault of his now was it?

Despite the hell Naruto's past life had given him, the fact was that that soul was still the one who had fully bonded to the Red Queen, and Alice would be pissed at him if he didn't do anything to help her beloved.

Besides, he was growing very bored waiting for his time to come. He had a job to do, and he was the only one who could seeing as how the rest would ruin things by starting it too early.

He had just turned seven when it happened. Itachi and an unknown man with an orange mask appeared in the compound and began to kill everyone in sight.

* * *

Ikuto didn't even spare his 'cousins' a glance, as the terrified children didn't even try to help him when he stumbled, narrowly saving himself from the blade of the orange masked idiot.

He pretended to be dead long enough to give a dispassionate glance around him, his mind already insane from all his years in his original form as a Chain.

The sound of bells was clear from where the one known as Tobi was, killing the last of the children. Itachi had refused to do that much, which meant he had to do it himself.

* * *

Tobi turned to see the child he had assumed had broken his neck look at him dead in the eye, his cold lapis blue eyes staring into his very soul...as if he found him wanting. Just as he was about to go and finish the brat off, those blue eyes shifted to a very familiar and shocking form.

The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Supposedly something you could only get after transplanting the eyes of a close relative in after obtaining the standard Mangekyo. It had all of the perks of the second stage without the nasty side effect of loosing one's sight.

The kid licked his right hand (and he meant licked, like a cat would), rubbed it against his right eye, and then the sound of bells became louder as the two ends of his scarf (it was a deep blood red, long enough to reach the ground which was highly impractical) developed a pair of golden bells (which was where the sound came from) and quickly enveloped him, causing him to vanish without a trace.

Tobi briefly wondered what the hell that kid was, and why he had a power so similar to his phasing trick before he got back to the task at hand, which was murdering his family.

* * *

Itachi was about to finish off Mikoto when he heard it. The unmistakeable sound of a cat. He froze like a statue, as he had developed a severe case of Ailurophobia, or fear of cats, since Tora.

If he had known the real cause of his remembered fear, he would have strangled Ikuto for bringing it back.

Sasuke looked around, wondering where that cat sound was coming from. Because of Itachi's bizarre fear of the creatures, he often had to help his brother keep an eye out for the things. It was an embarrassment to Fugaku, but after Itachi nearly clawed the man's eyes out trying to get the hell away from the room that his 'father' tried to lock him in that had been filled with the damn things, he had given up trying to cure it through force.

Well, that and the month Mikoto forced him to sleep on the couch had not been fun in the least.

"_Meow... Raven, if you kill the_ _woman then the one known as Danzo may capture your younger brother. Do you want to fail Sasuke as you did Vincent?"_ called out a voice from the darkness. It spoke in the language that had Itachi remember more things about his past self.

Raven Nightray understood what that damn Chain was saying, even if he didn't like it. Though as far as he knew, Mikoto had never once agreed with her husband and had at least treated the three fairly.

He refused to lose his younger brother to darkness twice.

"_You had better keep her safe from _Madara_ then,"_ he called back.

There was a loud yowl from outside, and Itachi knocked his brother out with a dose of KI before making his escape.

Just because that damn Chain was the only one who could bring back Oz didn't mean he had to like it.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen had a massive migraine. This wasn't caused by Naruto's pranks for a change, or by the council...well not entirely the last one.

No this one was caused entirely by one Ikuto Uchiha, currently the oldest 'loyal' Uchiha of the clan by a span of two months.

He should have known Ikuto was different, if only because of how his mother was killed. No mother would have abandoned her infant son to fight a demon, not unless there was something very wrong.

Because Ikuto had survived and wasn't currently catatonic like his cousin, Sarutobi had to deal with him first.

"You're not really human, are you?" he asked bluntly. The boy's mannerisms said as much.

"Cat given permanent human form as a favor. Because I had been stuck in my true form for quite some time, they had to give me a new one so I could do my job," said Ikuto. He was perched on the chair like a cat would, and the Hokage would swear he could see a long black tail swishing behind the boy.

"And what job is that?"

"I have to awaken the others. I am the only one who remembers everything, and since I lost most of my powers, I have to recreate them or get new ones. The awakenings won't happen for another six or seven years though," said Ikuto.

Now he could see large black cat ears twitching.

"And the reason for your human disguise breaking down?"

"I said most of my powers, not all. My pocket realm was recreated and now contains all the memories, not just hers. I still hold the power to jump into there, but it takes a bit longer for me to do so. The ears and tail will vanish in a few hours," said Ikuto bluntly.

He had been sent to awaken the others, and had been given permission to tell the Hokage anything he needed to know...but not the identities of those reincarnated here. The last thing they needed was to have their memories restored too early by force.

The Hokage blew a ring of smoke. Legally there was little he could do, as Ikuto had saved Mikoto and Sasuke, though they would need a lot of therapy after this.

"Will this harm my village?"

"They never said. All I know is that myself and a few others were given a second chance to live without something in the way, and that I am the only one who has my full memory of who we were before. I do know that most of the people involved will likely become shinobi, as they were all fighters of some form or another."

"I suppose I shall have to live with that. Coincidentally is Itachi Uchiha among this number?"

"He is. He's not too happy that I brought back his intense fear of cats, but considering the alternative he'll live with it," said Ikuto with a shrug.

Suddenly the change in his personality when it came to cats made a lot more sense. At least now they had an answer _why_.

* * *

Ikuto was in class with Naruto and a bored Nara girl he could never remember the name of. All he knew was that she was in the lead for the top kunoichi spot and the annoying Haruno girl considered the girl her rival.

The thing that bugged him was that she felt so familiar yet they had never met before properly. Fugaku refused to let the children socialize outside their clan for some reason during the last year, and she had just gotten bumped up a year to their class with her cousin Shikamaru.

The thing was that the girl reminded him of someone...and had the scent of a Chain coming off her.

It wasn't until he saw the trashy romance book she was reading that he recognized her.

Sharon Rainsworth had become a Nara. No wonder Naruto all but fell over her and ignore that loud harpy. Oz always had a crush on Sharon but he knew that his heart belonged to his secondary Mistress Alice.

* * *

Himeko Nara was bored and moongazing when the cat-boy appeared.

She knew who Ikuto Uchiha was, everyone did. Ever since the Massacre, the boy had suddenly gained the weird ability to manifest cat ears and a long silky black tail.

Her question was what did the Neko-Shounen of the Uchiha clan want with her.

Red eyes gazed deep into her soul and said something in a language she half remembered.

"_The time of awakening is soon Sharon Rainsworth and Equus. When the Chain of the one who controls the Abyss awakens for the first time, you will remember this meeting and start to truly awaken."_

There was the sound of a horses whinnying next to her, and she saw through half-awake eyes the figure of a black unicorn. It whinnied again, and vanished into the shadows.

It was because of this ability she had been reborn as a Nara, instead of a Yamanaka. Though to be fair her mother was a Yamanaka.

"_Sleep, Sharon and Equus...and dream the dreams of your memories yet to awaken,"_ whispered Ikuto.

Himeko's head landed on her window seal with a light thud, and her father found her two minutes later and put her in her room.

Ikuto's genin team was complete...now to convince the Hokage to keep the reincarnated souls together.

* * *

_**Just to be clear, this is more of a 'how things got to where they are' chapter than a real first chapter. As the story goes along, we see more of the PH characters show up and what happened to their world.**_

_**The Abyss is gone, but the Chains remain. There are no more cursed children, only those reincarnated. Still not sure if I should add the Baskervilles and Glen just yet...I'm hedging on whether or not to add Vincent at all.**_

_**Anyway here's a list of reincarnated souls and their new names.**_

**Cheshire Cat- Ikuto Uchiha (the only Chain who was given a human body)**

**Alice/B-Rabbit- Alice (currently in Sunagakure)**

**Alyss/Will- Alyss (currently in Sunagakure with her twin**

**Oz Bezarius- Naruto Uzumaki**

**Gilbert Nightray/Raven- Itachi Uchiha**

**Sharon Reinsworth- Himeko Nara**

**I will be adding Break, among others, soon enough. You'll laugh when you learn who he ended up as.**


End file.
